Odisha CM announces cash incentives for winning medal at World Skills Competition

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government announced cash incentives for people of the state for winning medals in the World Skills Competition to be held in Shanghai China in October this year. The announcement was made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday while felicitating the winners of the India Skills Competition. Students the state have got 59 medals at the India Skills Competition 2021 which was held in New Delhi in January 2022.

"Winning is a habit, so is excellence. I believe our children have now formed the habit to excel, to compete with the best in the world and win," Patnaik said. He said Odisha will put the best resources available towards training the winners as they go through the gruelling preparations for the World Skills Competition. He said that from this edition onwards, the gold medal winner in the World Skill competitions will get an award of Rs 1 crore, the silver medalist will get Rs 50 lakh and the bronze medalist will get Rs 25 lakh. The institution which nurtures the gold medal winner will get Rs 5 crore for setting up the Biju Patnaik Centre of Excellence, he said.

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Congratulating the competitors the chief minister said Odisha stood first in the India Skills competition held in January 2022 with 59 medals in total. He congratulated all the winners, their parents, their coaches, institutions and industry partners for this great achievement. He also thanked the National Skill Development Corporation for the support. Patnaik further said that these medals come from traditional skills to the latest in technology proving the range and versatility of our boys and girls. In standing with our commitment to promoting girls in technical education, girls have brought the state national honours in areas that are traditionally male-dominated.

The chief minister said that Odisha worked for a time when people would ask our boys, girls whether they are just skilled or skilled-in-Odisha. The endeavour got its first appreciation when Aswath Narayan from Odisha brought India its first ever gold in the field of water technology in the last edition of the World Skills Competition held in Kazan in 2018. The CM said "we have made skilling aspirational for the youth and it is at the core of all that we do in the area of skilling".

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The World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar, set up with ITEES Singapore as the knowledge partner, stands as a towering testament of our commitment towards the youth of Odisha, he added. Odisha Skills Development Authority chairman Subrato Bagchi said that the winners of India Skills come from the bottom most strata of society which reflects the aspirational outlook of the entire state. He said what the chief minister has done for hockey, the same will be achieved in skills too.

Minister for Skill Development and Technical Education Premananda Nayak outlined the efforts of his department for realizing the dreams of Odisha in skills. The chief minister felicitated Santosh Ojha, a gold medalist in cabinet making, Sona Behera, gold winner in painting, Swati Kumari and Nausin Nigar gold medalists in Robotic system Integration in the India Skills competition. They received certificates and cash awards.