A state-of-the-art plumbing lab sponsored by Grundfos Pumps India Pvt. Ltd. (Grundfos India) was inaugurated at the Swami Vivekananda Rural Community College (SVRCC) recently. Located at Keezhputhupattu village bordering Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, SVRCC aims at providing vocational training to students from weaker sections of the society. Through the newly inaugurated plumbing laboratory, SVRCC will provide a six month course on plumbing to its students.

• The plumbing course will comprise of the below elements:
• Introduction to the plumbing trade, trade glossary, tools & equipment, documentation, materials, testing, safety, practice modules and introduction to trade on job site
• Training on pump usage and servicing
• Monitoring and troubleshooting of plumbing installation in residential, institutional and commercial buildings
• Entrepreneurship - how to run a small business

The course will also include training on life skills, comprising of spoken and written English, basics of computer, soft skills, entrepreneurship, yoga and meditation.

Commenting on the occasion, Ranganath NK, Managing Director, Grundfos India, said, "According to the National Skill Development Corporation there are over 700 million people of working age in India, out of which only 4.3 million are considered skilled. This shortage of skilled workers is increasingly affecting the Indian economy. Grundfos India is therefore focusing on skill development as one of its focus areas when it comes to CSR. We are happy to partner with SVRCC to set up this plumbing lab as well as share our expertise in the pump domain with their students. This lab and course will not only greatly benefit the students but will also help in bridging the widening demand-supply gap in industries by ensuring a qualified workforce."

G V Subrahmanian, Director, SVRCC, said "SVRCC endeavours to reach out to the backward villages and slums in the Villupuram and surrounding districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The target group of the project is the youth from these localities, hailing from economically backward families such as fishermen, landless labourers, daily wage workers, etc. Also they have dropped out of formal education and are unemployed or underemployed and, face the threat of dire poverty owing to lack of sustainable incomes. The state-of-the art plumbing lab set up with the support from Grundfos Pumps is indeed a notable social investment by the company. The lab will help us in imparting quality training with enhanced training content, and help us on the one hand to offer to the industry the right-skilled employable youth and on the other to provide the underprivileged youth with gainful employment. I thank Grundfos India for helping us in establishinis plumbing lab."