The Gem & Jewellery Skill Council of India (GJSCI) will reach out to industry bodies in traditional jewellery manufacturing clusters as well as to training institutes already offering courses in the field during the next phase of its growth and development, the new GJSCI Chairman Sanjay A. Kothari has said.

Describing his vision as a variation of the “Sabka Saath, Sabka VIkas” slogan put forward by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Kothari, who assumed his new role in early October, said that the industry can grow only when it realises the importance of cooperation in upgrading overall skill levels across the board. “It is important to understand that when we embrace Saraswati then Laxmi will embrace us,” he explained.

Commending the work done by the earlier team that steered GJSCI since its inception in 2012, the new chairman said that not only did they have to start from scratch, but they have also laid a foundation for implementing the vision of the government. He said the current GJSCI team was now gearing up to take this to the next level.

Kothari said that his vision was to develop a vast number of skilled specialists across the industry, so that the world’s top brands would be confident about sourcing their jewellery from manufacturers in India. “Indian companies have won the confidence of the large chains and smaller independents in the US, and we must now aim to have the biggest luxury brands in the world accept that our standards are on par with Italy and others,” he stated.

Elaborating on the achievements of the last few years, GJSCI ED & CEO Rajeev Garg said that GJSCI had not only created over 70+ Qualification Packs for the different skill sets and job profiles in the industry, but had also certified 1,33,230 persons who completed Short Term Training courses, with an additional 24,131 workers with no formal qualification, but rich on the job experience being certified under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) scheme.

Garg said that following recent amendments to the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana  (PMKVY) scheme, it was now possible for employers to directly certify their long term employees without involvement of an assessment agency. “If we can get the industry to participate actively in this process, we can aim to certify more than a few lakhs of the present workforce in the next three years,” Garg added.

Further, he gave details of existing schemes such as Vanika (providing training on job work for imitation jewellery manufacturers to tribal women in Palghar, Maharashtra), Rupantaar (to equip young, first time offenders in jails with skills that would help them find gainful employment on release) and Hupari (upgrading traditional skills of silver smiths in Kolhapur, Maharashtra) and other skill development projects in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra and Cuttack in Odisha.

Drawing the attention of the representatives of training institutes to opportunities for gaining recognition or partnering with the NSDC for non-scheme projects which are self-financed, Garg said that they could work with the GJSCI for Training or Assessment work. He also invited them and companies developing new technology to identify future job profiles arising out of such advancements and changes in manufacturing techniques.

He added that GJSCI along with industry partners had been sending teams to participate in the World Skills Competition for the past three years, and India had won a medal on each occasion. “This year VBJ Chennai sponsored the training of those selected to represent the country in 2019 and we are confident of being among the winners once again.”

Kothari concluded by saying that GJSCI has drawn up a plan for the next few months and in addition to specific events, it planned to hold meetings in all important jewellery manufacturing clusters across the country to educate owners and workers about the importance of skill upgradation.

On Oct 26, GJSCI along with NSDC, plans to conduct a Roadshow in SEEPZ which will be addressed by the Joint Secretary from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, GoI. The focus would be on the new features of the revamped Apprenticeship Act 1961 and National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).