Against all odds, Rubber Skill Development Council (RSDC), the sector skill council for Rubber in the country, celebrated its annual awards ceremony, 5th in the series, in a virtual mode. The RSDC awards ceremony which has come to attain a special place on the calendar of Rubber & Tyre Industry in India gave the feel of a live show as all the elements of the awards ceremony were string together with high technical precision. The event witnessed large participation from Rubber & Tyre Industry captains, officials from Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), trainers, assessors, academia and other stakeholders.
Mr Anshuman Singhania, Vice Chairman, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) and Mr V T Chandhrasekharan, President, All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) graced the occasion as Guests of Honour.
Recounting the achievements of RSDC in its 8-year journey, Chairman of RSDC Vinod Simon in his welcome note stated, “RSDC has trained over 2.5 lakh trainees across Rubber plantations, Rubber manufacturing and Tyre repair & services verticals apart from creating qualification packs (QPs) and National Occupation Standards (NOS) for different job roles in the Rubber sector. Skill gap analysis has been undertaken by RSDC across all major states in the country. RSDC is currently engaged in creating e-learning simulated content and different models of training. Saamarth project being run under the mentorship of MSDE has been a trailblazer of sorts”. “Besides training in plantations and manufacturing, a fleet of 40 well-equipped mobile skill vans, the first of-its kind in India, are running the length & breadth of the country training tyre fitters and converting many of them into entrepreneurs” added Mr Simon.
“During the pandemic, a large number of people have been equipped with skills which will be in good demand as the economy is gradually but certainly opening up. Additionally renewed efforts have been made for training in plantations in the Northeast. The Northeast of the country holds a lot of potential for increasing output of Natural Rubber through skill development and skill training in rubber tapping and processing. Tyre industry is all for NR plantations in the country and will support every move that makes domestic NR competitive”, said Mr Anshuman Singhania.
Mr V T Chandhrasekharan, President AIRIA said, “The disruption due to Covid pandemic has caused wide-spread chaos. However during my several interactions with the Government officials in recent months, it was evident that the Rubber industry has a large potential to grow. Internationally, manufacturers have started looking for alternative manufacturing bases. India fits the bill well. There is a large opportunity for Indian rubber industry to grow. We need to invest in R&D, improve manufacturing capacities by using low cost automation and artificial intelligence (AI) and improve efficiencies of the work force. RSDC is doing a meaningful job along with the partners in skilling up the sector. Rubber Industry needs the support from all the stakeholders in making the industry competitive”.
Two veterans of industry, Mr Vijay Pahwa, NSDC’s nominee director at RSDC and Mr Rajiv Budhraja, Director General Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association announced the awards in their capacity as jury members.
Excellence achieved in different facets of the skilling ecosystem in the Rubber sector was recognised at RSDC Annual Awards 2020. The first prize as Best Training Partner went to LabourNet Services India Pvt Ltd. Rajib Loson Basumatary and Samir Debnath were adjudged as the Best Trainers. Trendsetters Skill Assessors Pvt Ltd received the award as Best Assessment Agency. Gurdev Singh and P C Simon received recognition as best assessors. Rajesh T K was conferred the best trainee award in manufacturing, whereas in Plantation the best trainee award went to Charanpati Chakma.
Under Special Category awards, National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation (NBCFDC) received the award as best Government skill department. Bridgestone India bagged the award as best industry for its CSR project centered on tyre services. Dr MGR Educational & Research Institute, Chennai received recognition as the best academic institution for successfully implementing a dual degree programme.
Ms Shewani Nagpal, COO of RSDC while thanking the guests committed to continue working towards making the Rubber sector competitive through skill training and unlock the job potential in the sector.
