Cuttack: The 170th birth anniversary of Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das was marked by both the BJD and the BJP apparently vying to claim the legacy of this pioneer of industrialisation in Odisha here in the city on Saturday.
The occasion was used in an unprecedented way both by the BJP-led Centre and the BJD-led state government to come up with programmes purportedly conceptualised as a mark of respect for the icon of Odisha and commitment to his vision for development of skill.
Madhusudan Das had founded the Orissa Art Ware Works in Cuttack in 1897 and through it supported the tarkashi (filigree) work of silver ornaments to flourish by making them for the first time on a large scale. Das had also helped various other cottage industries to develop on sounder footing while exhorting the village weavers to come over to his workshop and receive better training. In 1905, he had founded in Cuttack the Utkal Tannery, a factory producing shoes and other leather products.
Union minister of skill development Dharmendra Pradhan launched a training facility for silver filigree artisans in Cuttack. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, on the other hand, inaugurated in Cuttack the two-day skills competition - Odisha Skills-2018 - that will be held in Bhubaneswar from Sunday.
Inaugurating the skill-cum-common facility centre for filigree artisans at Satichaura, Pradhan said it would provide training on marketing strategies to help them become self-sustainable and engage directly with buyers. He said at least 1,000 artisans would be be taken on the first phase this year.
Naveen said his government was organising the first-of-its-kind state-level skills competition to provide platform to talented youths to showcase their skills at a bigger stage and make a career.
He declared a Rs 1 lakh cash prize for the competitor from the state, who got gold medal at the national competition. He said the silver and bronze medal winners would get Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000, respectively.
"Our mission for the World Skill Competition is mission 123, that is gold, silver and bronze," said Naveen, while claiming that the industrial training institutes were better than other ITIs in India.
The competition, segmented into 25 trades, will have 218 competitors selected from 6,915 candidates. Of them, 50 competitors (from each trade) will be selected to compete at the zonal level and those selected there will take part at the national level. Those selected in it will proceed for the world-level competition.
The National Skill Development Corporation and the Gems and Jewellery Skill Council of India, in association with EduJobs Academy, set up the facility centre that Pradhan inaugurated.
An official said: "The artisans will get not only an opportunity to upgrade their skills, but also a window to connect with the global expo market. If any worker wants to take industry-level training, he can do so at the centre with latest technology. The centre will also provide training on marketing strategies, including e-commerce, so that the artisans can be self-sustained and engage directly with buyers."
Pradhan also launched a pipe fitter-city gas distribution course, which will commence at the skill development institute in Bhubaneswar. Pradhan said an international workshop on silver filigree will be organised in Cuttack within six months. He also indicated that efforts were on to revive the Utkal Tannery. "In fact, we have asked for 25 acres from the state government," Pradhan said.
