FIGSI: Centre for Skill Development inaugurated

N T Correspondent

Stones and granites are essential part of architectural aesthetics. They lend grace and beauty to edifices, more so if they are public buildings. Carving, polishing and engraving stones and quartz involve skills which traditional artisans had in abundance. Over the years, such skills have remained only with master craftsmen and no attempt has been made to train the new generation. The Federation of Indian Granite and Stone Industry (FIGSI) is setting up a skill development centre for training artisans in the art of carving, engraving and sculpting. The Centre would come up at Shoolagiri, near Hosur in Tamil Nadu at the conjunction of the borders of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

FIGSI is an all-India body which was founded in 1983 and has over 1,300 members. The foundation stone for FIGSI Centre of Excellence was laid on March 6 at Shoolagiri by Mr. Ishwinder Singh, President FIGSI. Present at the occasion was Mr. Veeramani, Founder President and Mr. R. Sekar, past president.

The FIGSI Centre of Excellence will take students from the southern states to train them in all crafts involved in dressing stones for cladding of walls, for murals, friezes and for decorative purposes. A similar centre has already come up in Jaipur. The Centre will impart five different courses in stone mining, processing sculptures and monuments, e-commerce and marketing of quartz and gems. Trained youth will find employment in the construction industry. FIGSI has tied up with Vivekananda Global University who are pioneers in skill development. The Centre is expected to be operational within one year. While some students will be charged a nominal fee, others will receive a stipend. The Centre will also have a ‘Hall of Fame’ and a Stone Museum which will showcase the stone industry, history of FIGSI and various types of stones, marble, quartz, sculptures and replica of monuments. Hostel for the inmates at the Centre is also part of the project. The Centres in Shoolagiri and Jaipur are expected to turn out between 500 to 600 trained craftsmen a year. It will be a Governmentcertified course. According to Mr. Ishwinder Singh, the stone industry would require around 70 lakh such skilled artisans by 2025.

Mr. Veeramani who spoke at the occasion, said he was the first President of FIGSI which began the annual exhibition STONA from 1987 and so far 14 such exhibitions have been organised. The Centre will entail a cost of Rs. 12 crore.