Shobanraj S and S Chandru have been placed first in the 18 - 32 year and 33 – 40 year categories Nippon Paint (India) Private Limited (Decorative Division), Asia Pacific’s leading paint manufacturer today announced the winners of the Painting skill contest. This contest was held exclusively for the painters who reside in Chennai and saw the participation of more than 120 contestants. The Top 3 winners of the painting skill contest in the 18-32 year category include: Shobanraj S, 23 years, (1st place), Suresh M, 31 years (2nd place) and Stephen CGS, 31 years (3rd place). In the 33-40 year category, S Chandru, 38 years, M Madhavan, 38 years and Sivamani, 38 years were placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The winners of the first prize were rewarded with a trip to Singapore where they will get a free skill training at the Nippon Paint Academy in Singapore. The second and third prize winners bagged a cash prize of INR 20,000 and INR 10,000 respectively. The contest adopted World skills/ India skills framework of decorative painter. It was divided between two age groups: 18 - 32 year and 33 – 40 year. First, the initial screening of the painters was conducted. Next, the shortlisted painters were evaluated on their actual painting skills. The final 12 contestants participated in the grand finale which was held on Saturday (April 17th 2021). Painters who have been retrained and certified as a part of the RPL program were eligible to participate in the contest. Nippon Paint has helped over 20,000 painters achieve the RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) certification under the TNSDC (Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation) scheme. Speaking about the skill contest, Mahesh Anand, President, Nippon Paint India (Decorative Division) said, “We are extremely happy to see the wonderful work that these painters have done – it is truly a visual delight and showcases their skills and creativity. Amidst the ongoing pandemic, we hope this contest will bring cheer amongst the lives of these painters. We are sure that the winners will receive excellent training from the experts at the Nippon Paint Academy, Singapore. Our main objective with this contest was to encourage the painters to showcase their skills as a painter and to take pride in their profession. We are hoping to launch more such contests for painters in the upcoming months.”