Joint Army- NSDC Skill Symposium 2016 held at Manekshaw Centre The Indian Army, as part of the 68th Army Day 2016 Celebrations, conducted an Indian Army Skills Symposium in collaboration with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi Cantonment. The Skills Symposium was presided by Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma, Adjutant General of the Indian Army along with representatives from the Ministries of Defence and Skill Development. Shri Jayant Krishna, CEO, NSDC delivered the opening address wherein he highlighted the importance of building a relationship between the Armed Forces and the NSDC on skilling prospective military retirees in a nation building role. An orientation workshop was conducted by Shri Rajiv Mathur, Head Standards & Quality Assurance, NSDC, in presence of the Commandants and Training Commanders of the various Regimental Training Centres in the Indian Army. Approximately, 90 Military & Civilian delegates attended the symposium. The Indian Army Skills Symposium was followed by a field visit of the Army delegates to IL&FS Skill Development Centre located at Okhla. The visit gave an opportunity to the Indian Army leadership to witness the training standards and norms as prevalent in the industry and explore possible avenues to partner with them in this field. The symposium is a significant step after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE) on Skill Development in July 15 and aims at building a better understanding among the Army Leadership about the National Skilling Initiative and possible opportunities to align prospective military retirees to civilian job roles, as defined under the new NSDC Policy Framework issued in 2015. The symposium has paved the way for better coordination and collaboration between the NSDC and Indian Army in the future which will eventually benefit the over 60,000 personnel retiring from the Army each year. Col Rohan Anand, SM PRO (Army)
