The 2nd edition of ‘Awards for Excellence in District Skill Development Planning’ (DSDP) were organised at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi where top 30 districts were awarded for their innovative best practices in skill development in the region. Rajkot in Gujarat, Cachar in Assam and Satara in Maharashtra were ranked top three. District Collectors, District Magistrates and other representatives from across 30 States attended the award ceremony. The awards were given under three categories – Category I: 8 Awards for Excellence in District Skill Development Planning, Category II: 13 Certificate for Excellence in District Skill Development Planning and Category III: 9 Letter of Appreciation for District Skill Development Planning.
The officials met the Minister of Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and IT Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar and shared best practices and work. Shri Ved Mani Tiwari, Chief Operating Officer and Officiating Chief Executive Officer, NSDC also presented the Skill India Digital Roadmap that highlighted future skills and opportunities for local administrations.
The Rajkot DSC has implemented several projects that supported people with learning disabilities and dyslexia. Short shelf life and high transportation cost were posing a supply chain challenge to pineapple farmers of Assam’s Cachar district, forcing them to dispose of large quantities of the fruit and sell them at sub-par market prices. The Cachar DSC came up with a quick solution that gave farmers the bargaining capacity to sell pineapples at a handsome profit. The Satara DSC implemented various programmes to strengthen skilling and training a workforce for disaster management and empowering women with skill training. DSDP Awards were instituted under the Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion Scheme by MSDE in June 2018. IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur were chosen as evaluation partners to assess the award entries.
