Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council - Surging Ahead to Rebuild India.

IESC has trained and certified close to 47,000 operators, mechanics and supervisors pan India and abroad.

The Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (IESC) which was formed in 2014 is presently in its sixth year of operations and during this period has established a strong foundation and framework for the skill eco system in the industry which has been validated by training and certifying close to 47,000 operators, mechanics and supervisors pan India and abroad too.

Reaching out… India

As part of its constant endeavour to reach out to all stake holders, the IESC took part in the last edition of the Excon held at Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) from 10th to 14th Dec 2019 where IESC was the 'supporting' partner to CII. The Excon is a biennial exhibition conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (ICEMA). It is South East Asia's largest exhibition of Infrastructure Equipment with over 31 countries participating and with over 70,000 recorded visitors from SAARC, European & American countries.

For the first time, to highlight the activities of IESC, a larger stall exhibiting 2 Simulators for 'hands on training' covering different equipment like, graders, excavators, wheel loaders etc was established. This was the main attraction for all the visitors. IESC has good 'foot fall' from different segments of the Industry. Threadbare discussions were held with major corporates/ contractors/ field managers &supervisors/ operators &mechanics to promote the skilling initiatives of government of India and the benefits of joining the 'skilling eco system'.

The other success story was demonstration by IESC certified 'Lady Operators' to high light the ease of operation of popular infrastructure equipment like excavators/ backhoe / loaders/cranes etc. This also show cased the 'empowerment of women' in the Industry with IESC being in the forefront to certify lady operators thereby enhancing their standard and quality of life.

IESC also joined hands with Equipment Times Business Magazine's YELLOW DOT Awards Scheme to recognize the Industry's contribution towards innovation, automation and digitalization. IESC also recognized some of the best equipment manufactures for their contribution to the skilling of operators &mechanics in the industry.

Reaching out… Abroad

IESC in partnership with SkillEd India signed an agreement along with NSDC with M/sXtramix (Al Jaber Group Company) Abhu Dhabi, who are world class manufacturers of concrete mixers to train their batching plant operators under Recognition of Prior Learning as well as their master trainers.

The first phase of training for 23 operators from different countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh & India has been completed and the 2ndphase of training covering different infrastructure equipment will be taken up once the travel environs post pandemic becomes normal.

IESC job roles are getting increasingly recognised in the UAE due to National Occupational Standards & the Qualification Pack meeting their desired requirement of world standards. The trainers and assessors are being deputed from India to ease their demand on language proficiency on Urdu, Hindi & English for both Domain and Platform Delivery. Xtramix has appreciated the commitment and involvement by IESC and SkillEd India.

Moving Forward… Post Pandemic

Due to the nationwide lockdown all skilling activities were put on hold and consequent to the various restrictions being eased in a phased manner these have again resumed albeit in slow but steady manner. Notwithstanding these severe limitations IESC continue to remain connected with the industry through the virtual media, having established a stall in the ongoing CII Digital Exhibition for Construction Equipment Machinery.

Considering that close to 70% of the industry is in the unorganized / informal segment IESC is making concerted efforts to engage various stake holders in the sector, such as the Builders Association of India (BAI) & Construction Equipment Rental Owners Association (CERA) to name a few.

Since it will take time before the job markets open up, IESC is now focussing on upskilling the existing workforce through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programs, besides Apprenticeship Programs for operators are also being given the desired boost. Concurrently IESC is also reaching out to various state skill development missions who have expressed interest to join hands with IESC.

Last but not the least, with multi skilling being the mantra of the day IESC has embarked on formulating QPs at NSQF Levels 5 & 6 which will recognise the skills of operators who are adept in operating different machines and will also facilitate their career progression. We are confident these initiatives will make a positive impact on ground thereby strengthening the skill eco system.

Moving forward the industry is in the process of recovering from the recent lock down and steadying itself for the projected growth in the coming months. IESC is now well poised to support in meeting the demands of skilled manpower in the sector.

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