A total of 124 participants, representing five States, emerged winners of IndiaSkills 2021 Regional Competition-South, which concluded at the Andhra University Convention Centre on Beach Road here on Saturday.
Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao presented the awards to the winners at the closing ceremony.
Addressing the gathering, the Minister opined that in the present day competitive world apart from education, students need to hone their skills in their respective areas to achieve success. India was producing CEOs for international companies and a peep into their past would show that they all had attained top positions through hard work.
He explained the efforts of the State government to provide better skills to students through agreements with various companies.
The competitions would encourage youth across the country to develop a passion to hone their skills in their chosen fields, he said.
Col. Arun Chandel, senior head, WorldSkills India, said that the participants in the regional competitions were selected through contests at the district/cluster and State levels during August-September, which saw a record 2.50 lakh registrations.
Of the 124 winners, 62 won gold medals and a cash prize of ₹21,000, while the remaining 62 bagged silver medals and ₹11,000. Kerala won 32 medals (16 gold, 16 silver), Karnataka 29 (15, 14), Tamil Nadu 21 (8, 13), Andhra Pradesh 18 (11, 7) and Telangana two gold medals. The winners included 22 ‘wild card entries’ from other States, which were not in the race and the candidates nominated by industry and corporates.
Over 400 participants, aged between 19 and 24, showcased their skills in 51 trades like brick laying, automobile body repair, welding, beauty therapy, robotics, heath and social care, gardening, carpentry, painting and web technologies. The skill competitions were held at 11 partner institutes located in the city and district.
The winners of the four Regional Competitions (East, West, North and South) will take part in the nationals in January and those who win gold and silver medals in each skill will represent India at the WorldSkills Competition in Shangai, China in October 2022.