GURUGRAM, India, Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --  Construction Skill Development Council of India (CSDCI) is a non-profit organization, operating under the aegis of National Council for Vocational Education & Training (NCVET), National Skill Development Council (NSDC) and the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MoSDE). CSDCI builds competencies which nurture employability and facilitate employment opportunities, which go to build a sustainable economic activity besides making India a 'Skill Capital of the World', as envisioned by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

On 17^th September 2022, on the occasion of 'Vishwakarma Diwas', Construction Skill Development Council of India held a 'Convocation & Felicitation Ceremony' at Gurugram. Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs graced the occasion as 'Chief Guest'. Lt. Gen. Rakesh Kumar Loomba, Ex-Chief of Military Intelligence, Mr. R Ganesan, Head Corporate Centre, Larsen & Toubro, Mr. Sabyasachi Das, Chief Executive Officer, Edu Tech company of Larsen & Toubro, Ms. Pangkhuri Borgohain, General Manager - Industry Collaboration from National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) graced the occasion as 'Guest of Honor'.

'Vishwakarma Diwas' is a day of celebration when one pays respect to the creator of marvels in mythology. Around 50 'Kaushal Sainiks' of Vishwakarma deity i.e., construction workers, the craftsmen of today's construction sites, under NIPUN (National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman Workers) a project under Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and other schemes, were awarded 'Certificates' across multiple job roles.

Hon'ble Additional Secretary, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, mentioned to the august gathering about why it is imperative to focus on skilling needs of construction workers if India has to move towards a '5 trillion-dollar economy', as construction is the second largest industry contributing to the employment generation as well as gross domestic value of the country. He inspired the august gathering on taking a pledge to increase and amplify the efforts across all works with support and facilitation from all the stakeholders, that will ensure:

• A respectable and dignified life for all construction workers
• 'Ease of Living and Safe Working' at construction sites
• Timely wage payments and Statue benefits reaching them
• A qualified workforce to reckon with across the globe

'Prayas' campaign an initiative under the leadership of Mr. Narendra Deshpande, Chief Executive Officer, Construction Skill Development Council of India was launched at the ceremony. The ceremony also witnessed multiple launches by Additional Secretary, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The launches and agreements signed at the ceremony are as follows:

1. 'Kaushal se Safal' is a 5 Episode testimonial driven Awareness 'Audio – Video' series under 'Prayas' campaign' of CSDCI driving importance of skill, in almost a dozen Indian languages.
2. Use of 'Virtual Reality' technology to create learning modules covering multitude of topics such as Formwork & Shuttering, Reinforcement Works, Staging & Scaffolding, Concreting and Mason category.
3. Domestic 'Research Report' on the demand, supply and its gap, including mapping of 'Academic Clusters' involving construction industry.
4. 'International Manpower Requirements' report for aligning the skills with the global benchmarks, to facilitate overseas employment and deployment to leverage the demographic dividend.
5. CSDCI as a 'Super Incubator' which would be predominantly looking at supporting innovations that are replicable, scalable and frugal for enabling 'Scaling & Speeding' up the skill development initiatives and those which will bring up the construction workforce to globally acceptable standards of performance.
6. Industry agreements with Larsen & Toubro were signed, especially for mapping of Safety, Quality and Productivity Standards for the various 'Job Roles', besides capturing of 'Ease of Working Norms', creation of 2-minute 'Job Role' videos for the purpose of counselling and career guidance.
7. Construction Skill Development Council of India singed 'Memorandum of Understanding' with Larsen & Toubro's Edu Tech as 'Knowledge Partners', especially targeting higher levels of education.

The event also saw 'Nukkad Natak' performance driving the message of 'Importance of Skill'. Dr. Pawan G Agrawal an international motivational speaker delivered an inspirational and motivational talk on the importance of skill and how everyone needs  to look at driving this message.

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