·         Indian Plumbing Skills Council (IPSC) provides list of skilled and certified plumbers ready to provide essential services

·         Over 70 affiliated training partners providing food and essential supplies to needy

·         Health & Safety Guidelines Released for the Indian Plumbing Workforce

Taking cognisance of the need for essential services like plumbing during the ongoing COVID 19 crisis, the Indian Plumbing Skills Council (IPSC) aligned to Skill India program, under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), has prepared a database of over 900 plumbers who are ready to provide their services during the lockdown period, across the country. The IPSC has also requested its affiliated training partners to conduct distribution drives of food and essential supplies to the needy and extended necessary support in the preparation and distribution activities. Over 70 training centres have also been nominated for conversion into food distribution/isolation centres.

Keeping in mind the need for stringent health and safety norms, the IPSC has also drafted Guidelines for the Plumbing Workforce to be observed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines were put together by a special IPSC technical task force headed by eminent leaders and experts from the Indian Plumbing Fraternity. The Guidelines cover important DO’s and DONT’s and location-specific precautionary measures including residential buildings and apartments, hospitals, isolation centres, commercial complexes, and other establishments.

Some key highlights of the advisory are:

1.      Follow social distancing

2.      Disinfecting tools, equipment, touchpoints – quantity of solutions to be used

3.      Prefer cashless transaction

4.      Disposing used material

5.      Educating consumers for self-help in crisis

6.      Maintaining a log for backtracking in case needed

Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, “IPSC’s proactive efforts in creating these guidelines are commendable and a welcome step towards India’s fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. The IPSC is constantly getting request from volunteers to contribute through their service to the nation, so this number of 900 will keep increasing.”

Dr Rajendra K Somany, Chairman, Indian Plumbing Skills Council said, “The health & safety of the Indian citizens is of utmost importance. The plumbing workforce plays a very important role in protecting the health of the nation.

The plumbing sector in India is highly unorganized and dependent on contractual and migratory workforce and its various diversified sub-segments such as contractors, manufacturers, and consultants were not represented by any organisation. 

IPSC was launched to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of skilled manpower and has been consistently offering excellence in vocational proficiency, backed by holistic skill development for the plumbing community to help reduce this skill deficit.

Currently, IPSC has approx. 230 training centres, 250 certified trainers and 85 certified assessors across India. IPSC has been working continuously to engage the industry towards the Skill India Mission amongst other important activities pertaining to formalizing the eco-system in the Indian Plumbing Sector.