Gems & Jewellery Skill Council of India (GJSCI) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery (IIGJ), Jaipur under which the latter has been empaneled as a Centre of Excellence for the gems and jewellery industry. The MoU was signed in the presence of office bearers of GJEPC and GJSCI as well as senior representatives of the industry during the ongoing Signature show.

Working closely with the GJSCI, the IIGJ will now execute multiple programmes related to training and skill development, with an initial focus on certification programmes under RPL (Recognition of prior learning) for artisans already working within the industry who have never received formal training or certification.

Prof Dhiraj Kumar, Principal, IIGJ Jaipur said that GJSCI has already developed a set of benchmarks and parameters for the RPL programmes. Qualified personnel of IIGJ will work with companies and organisations to assess the skill levels of the workforce and issue certificates accordingly, he added.

Binit Bhatt, COO, GJSCI said that in some cases, after a Skill Gap analysis, the artisans will be given an opportunity to undergo training to upgrade their level.

Over the next year, the two organisations plan to cover about one lakh or more artisans under the scheme, and GJSCI has already signed agreements with governments in West Bengal and Kerala as well as organisations in Surat and Rajasthan for this purpose.

In the longer term, IIGJ and GJSCI will also work together for 3600 development of existing gem and jewellery training centres, develop new training centres and carry out periodic monitoring to ensure that quality levels are maintained.

Dhiraj Kumar and Bhatt say that the government has also encouraged the development of multi-skilling centres, which may include the possibility of working with existing ITIs to introduce new training schemes, upgrade quality and infrastructure, and help the G&J industry meet its estimated requirement for 4 million new trained personnel over the next 10 years.