Patna: Over 160 participants taking part in the India Skills-Bihar, 2018, assembled on Monday at Niyojan Bhavan where they were briefed about the competition by labour minister Vijay Kumar Sinha and principal secretary of the department Dipak Kumar Singh.

Most of participants were students of institutions like IIT, BIT, NIT, NIFT, IHMTool Room<>, CIPET and others but were participating in such a state-level skill competition for the first time. The objective is to participate in WorldSkills, 2019, to be held in Kazan, Russia.

Some participants came from very humble backgrounds.

"This is a big opportunity. I want to focus for the world-level contest," said Rajesh Sharma of Samastipur, whose family has been engaged in carpentry for generations. Similarly, Rahul Kumar and Kishan Kumar from Bhojpur district are also from carpenter families. They have qualified in the initial screening and their hand-holding is being done by Bakhtiyarpur College of Engineering, so that they perform well.

Bihar Skill Development Mission has also invited contestants from the earlier version of WorldSkills.

They will also prepare them for the state-level and the next level of competitions. Mohit Dudeja and Shailendra Kumar, contestants of WorldSkills, 2017, held at Abu Dhabi, UAE, shall camp in Patna to cheer up and motivate the participants.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi and labour resources minister Vijay Kumar Sinha would be present at the inaugural ceremony of the event being held at Veterinary College ground from April 20-22 while governor Satya Pal Malik shall grace the closing and prize distribution ceremony.

The minister said the state winner and runner-up will receive cash prize of Rs 21,000 and Rs 11,000, respectively, while all other contestants shall receive Rs 8,000. Contestants from Bihar, who qualify at the regional and national levels shall be awarded Rs 51,000 and Rs 1 lakh, respectively.