Bridgestone India will partner Rubber Skill Development Council and National Skill Development Council to reskill over 3,600 youth under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding between the three mandates training 1,000 individuals in tyre fitter and repair job role. The scope also extends to certification with refreshers/reskilling training for over 2,650 tyre fitters already on board with Bridgestone dealers across the country.

The MoU was signed by Apurv Choubey, CHRO, Bridgestone India and Vinod Simon, Chairman, RSDC in the presence of Ranu Kulshrestha CSR Head, Bridgestone India, RSDC’s Governing Council Members and officials of National Skill Development Council (NSDC). Parag Satpute, managing director, Bridgestone India said: “Bridgestone recognises the fact that tyre repairing and fitting plays a critical role in road safety and in ensuring smooth movement of transport. It is therefore imperative that the youth, are imparted training as per the latest technological advancements for this vital role. This initiative will create skilled workforce and ensure better earnings for the youth. Overall enabling safer mobility on Indian roads. This is ‘Our Way to Serve’ the people and communities.”

The project is being executed to bridge the skill gaps amongst the tyre fitters. This assumes significance with the increased usage of tubeless tyres for both passenger and commercial vehicles. RSDC aims to reskill a million manpower under Recognition of Prior Skills (RPL) programme of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKKVY).

In a first move of its kind, the Bridgestone tyre set-ups providing tyre repairing and fitting services will be branded as ‘Tyre carewala’. Such branding will also act as morale boosting exercise for tyre mechanics.

Vinod Simon, chairman RSDC added,“Having reskilled and upskilled thousands of tyre mechanics under its Saamarth project, RSDC is privileged to be of assistance to Bridgestone for creating a strong line-up of over 3,600 trained tyre mechanics in the country. These tyre mechanics chosen through a rigorous process will be trained on state-of-the-art tools and equipment for tyre repairing & fitting and will create a new benchmark for tyre fitters in the country.”