Jewellery artisan Sanjoy Pramanik won the Bronze medal at the 45th WorldSkills Kazan 2019 competition that was held in Russia from August 22nd to 27th. The world championship of vocational skills saw a total of 1,354 participants from 63 countries compete for medals in 56 skills across various sectors, including jewellery making.
Pramanik, 21, from West Bengal, was aided in his journey by the Gem & Jewellery Skill Council of India (GJSCI), which had provided access to state-of-the-art facilities and extensive training sessions with leading industry experts.
A proud GJSCI chairman, Sanjay Kothari, said the Bronze medal was due to the collective efforts of Pramanik’s teachers Anupam Karmakar, creative head, Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers (VBJ), and Brazil-based expert and former WorldSkills winner Leonardo Rodrigues, who was flown in especially for his training. Kothari also acknowledged the contributions of Amar and Jitender Vummidi of Chennai-based VBJ, who sponsored Pramanik and worked closely with him in their factory. Kothari hoped that this win will prompt more candidates to qualify for this global competition, as the jewellery industry would benefit from expert artisans in future.
The 48-member Indian contingent returned with the best-ever finish at the WorldSkills competition by winning one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze medals, besides 15 Medallions of Excellence—S. Aswatha Narayana won the Gold medal in Water Technology; Pranav Nutalapati won Silver in Web Technologies; and Shweta Ratanpura won the Bronze medal in Graphic Designing, and also earned the distinction of being the only female candidate to win a medal for India at WorldSkills Kazan 2019.
India took part in 44 skill segments and finished 13th in the overall standings, several notches up from the last time when it won 11 medals and finished in 19th position at Abu Dhabi in 2017.
Congratulating the Indian team on their performance, Dr. Mahendra Pandey, union minister of skill development and entrepreneurship, said, “This win will be an inspiration to many other young Indians who will soon become a part of the skilling ecosystem. This victory takes us a step closer to fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Skilled India’. I wish all the luck to the participants for their future endeavours and would also like to extend my gratitude to all the partners who made it possible for the Indian youth to make a global mark.”