Selja Inaugurates Hunar Se Rozgar through hotels in Delhi; programme to be implemented in phased manner throughout the country in PPP model


20 Dec 2009 The Minister for Tourism Kumari Selja here today inaugurated the Hunar Se Rozgar through hotels programme. The programme aims at providing skill sets to young aspirants and train them for the trades of Cooks and Waiters.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said we are now witnessing revival of the global economy and it is believed that the worst is now behind us. She said Tourism in India is also experiencing good times with a great spurt in in-bound and domestic arrivals. Hotels from major travel destinations in India are registering high occupancy. The challenge now is to increase seat capacity and rooms on offer.

The Minister said an overall change both in attitude and approach is essential to not only welcome our visitors but also to provide them with correct information and guidance at every stage of interaction, whether it be from the autorickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, airport or railway staff. She said, we have to collectively learn to guide our valued guests, who provide us with employment and revenue.

Kumari Selja said from the combined training capabilities currently available in the country, we are only able to provide 12000 trained personnel for absorption in the Hospitality related enterprises against the existing demand for over 2 lakh trained manpower annually. Globally, the trend is to associate the private hospitality associations who are involved in the process of training. The Minister said, the private sector in turn is provided certain incentives for the conduct of such training programmes which ultimately benefits both the organized and unorganized sectors. On the one hand, we have young boys and girls who could be groomed in the hospitality sector and on the other, there is an acute shortage of trained manpower in particular waiters and cooks. Our challenge is to synergize.

The Minister said, we have taken several initiatives in this direction by organizing skills’ specific programs for auto-rickshaw drivers, airport staff, and guest house owners, etc. Under the scheme of Capacity Building for Service Providers (CBSP), we have launched a very successful program titled ‘Hunar Se Rozgar’ in the two trades of ‘Cooks’ and ‘Waiters’. Under this program, training is imparted to those desirous applicants who display the will to make a career in hospitality sector but lack the requisite basic skills. Our Institutes have received tremendous response for this program and the successful candidates are now finding appropriate placements in the hotels and restaurants.

Kumari Selja said, it would not be possible to successfully undertake this task without the active support of the private sector which accounts for majority of the employment in the hospitality sector. She said, we are fortunate that the Hotel Association of India has come forward to collaborate with our Ministry in undertaking the process to augment the requirement of trained manpower in the country. We are for the first time joining hands with the Private Sector in training of hospitality personnel.

While the Hunar Se Rozgar program is being successfully conducted at all the Central and State Institutes of Hotel Management, we are, in collaboration with the Hotel Association of India and Ashok Group & its affiliate hotels, launching this program for the first time in Delhi, which would emerge as an ideal model of Public Private Partnership. Kumari Selja said, this Programme will be implemented in a phased manner throughout the country.

The course curriculum for Hunar Se Rozgar programme has been developed by the National Council for Hotel Management & Catering Technology and would be delivered by leading hotels of Delhi under their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. The Food Production program is of eight weeks duration while the Food & Beverage Service program would stretch for six weeks.

Secretary, Tourism Shri Sujit Banerjee highlighted the various schemes that have been launched by his Ministry to augment the tourist infrastructure and HRD requirements. The Ministry proposes to target 49 Institutes of Hotel Management and 31 Foodcraft Institutes with a Tourism Management Institute in the South, by the end of the 11th 5-year Plan.

Shri Sanjay Kothari, Additional Secretary, Tourism said under the programme, the Hotels will be able to mould the candidates as per their requirements, while the students would benefit by acquiring skills from the best in the industry. He said, through an elaborate selection process, offer has been made to 102 identified candidates who would undergo the programme. The eligibility was kept at bare minimum so as to provide an opportunity to the young and aspiring to enter the hospitality trade. The successful students would be certified at the end of the programme, besides a token stipend, sets of uniform and tool kit.

Under the programme, the seven participating hotels in New Delhi are The Ashok, Crowne Plaza-Delhi, ITCWelcomgroup, The Lalit, The Oberoi, The Park and The Taj Hotels.

AD/DB