Atithi Devo Bhava....2nd CXO meet of the Hospitality Sector

Atithi Devo Bhava....2nd CXO meet of the Hospitality Sector

Atithi Devo Bhava....from ancient times till date, guests are considered to be equivalent to God in India. Hosting of guests is an important part of our culture. India is a land of beauty, historic monuments, tranquil hills, soothing beaches and rich culture. Millions visit it throughout the year. Yet a lot needs to be done to improve our services in the tourism and hospitality industry.
The tourism department started a programme " Incredible India", Atithi Devo Bhava to attract tourists. It aims at providing tourists, a greater sense of being welcomed here. Tourism is a complex industry with diverse stakeholders. The campaign aims at educating all.
The most important aspect in the tourism sector is hospitality management. This includes various branches like human resources, catering services, facility mangement etc. There are several colleges which provide degrees for Accommodation manager, Catering manager, Chef, Event manager, Public house manager, Restaurant manager etc.
The rural poor may also have aspirations to do these courses but may not afford them. Recognising their needs and desire the Government of India has included Tourism and Hospitality under the DDUGKY, that is the Deendayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushalya Yojana.
This includes a three month free residential course in any of the institutions empanelled as Project Implementation Agencies under the DDUGKY.
An important aspect of the training is appropriate placement of the trained candidates. The DDUGKY has made a minimum 70 percent placements mandatory for release of payments. CXO meetings facilitate placements of candidates trained under DDUGKY by networking with prospective quality employers.
The second CXO meet of MSRLM DDUGKY was therefore organised for  the hospitality industry. It was attended by 30 organizations including IRCTC, Sodexo, PSIPL, OCS facility management services, Jet Airways, DTSS facility management services, Kamat Group of Hotels, Hotel Express Inn, Kohinoor Institute of Management, Pizza Hut, VIP Industries Ltd etc.
Several PIAs like Dhatri Foundation, Nidaan Technologies, Orion Edutech, Shri Technologies, CAP WDI, AvonFacility Management Services, KardaConstruction
etc attended the meeting.
Candidates trained under DDUGKY and successfully placed  and those who had been working for over a year were invited as skill icons.
Namrata from Kiroli , at Nagpur stole everyone's heart with her story.
Namrata was unable to pursue her studies after the 12th standard as she came from a very poor family. She lived with her mother and brother. Their father had deserted them and they were taken care of by the mother. Life was full of struggles and challenges. She did some odd jobs to support her mother. One of her friends told her about DDUGKY, she applied and got selected for a 4 months course in hospitality at the Dhatri Foundation. She was always fascinated by the hotel industry and therefore joined the hospitality course. This enabled her to learn a lot about time and money management. She acquired speaking and presenting skills which boosted her confidence so much so that it was possible for her to speak in the CXO meet in front of such a distinguished audience. She not only spoke with elan but also sang a beautiful welcome song. She had completed her training in time and was placed at KFC as a team member with a salary of Rs.7000 which increased to Rs.10000 in 7 months due to her performance. She also gets incentives upto Rs.4000 and is hopeful of soon becoming a Shift Manager. Everyone wished her the happiness reflected in her welcome sing, "Sakal suman mann suman pulakit zhaale
Hruday he dhatri bole
Anaandaala udaan aale"
Vinita Lad's success story is equally fascinating. She is grateful for the trust bestowed on her by her family when they sent her, so far away from home to get trained at the PIA, Shri Technologies. Restaurant businesses are not considered to be very respectable in the village but her family never looked down upon her working there. Beginning at the Pizza Hut with a salary of Rs.6000, she had to leave work as her mother was paralysed. She has been able to join back with a higher salary of Rs. 16000 once her mother recovered due to the support of the PIA. She believes that if she could achieve this then anybody else can do so too. She hoped that girls would never be looked down upon and respected always.
Ashwini Gaikwad, trained at Global College of Hotel management belonged to a small village from Jalna from a society which believed that a girl's place was in the home. Also being extremely poor their family had no capacity to send her to school. Her parent's worked on sugarcane fields as labourers and did try to eduacte her in a boarding school for the children of sugarcane field labourers but it could not be completed. DDUGKY was a golden opportunity about which she came to know of from a friend and got trained. Her dream of not remaining poor is realised now.
Chaaya Nikam from , Kura Kakoda village of Muktai Nagar, Jalgaon a deserted woman having a child has been trained in the hospitality sector by Karda Skills and works for Karda constructions. The company has not only provided her accommodation along with a salary of Rs.8000 but also takes care of her son.
Ambalal German , from Nandurbar has been able to get his mortgaged land released. He is employed in Hotel Emerald Park and his brother has been employed in a security agency.
Vikrant Jathar from Vaibhavwadi and Monica Thakur from Nagpur also shared their experiences. Swapnil Patil works in a restaurant in the famous Sula Wines.
After this enthused sharing of experiences, the deliberations edged towards channelising ideas to make it fruitful for all stakeholders, specially the candidates. 
There was a need for greater awareness about the scheme. Many corporates still do not know that such a programme existed.
There was a huge demand for trained personnel and training under DDUGKY could be aligned with it. It was important that the PIAs understand the job roles and bridge the skill gap by training appropriately. The candidates also had to be prepared for the demands of the job and long working hours. The aspirations and expectations of the candidates also needed to be kept in mind so that they could be retained and could also advance in their careers. However selecting the right candidate for the right course and job was most important.
Hospitality industry was a mix of various types of work including housekeeping. The dignity of labour had not only to imbibed in the candidates and workers but also among the people. It was common to look down on the housekeeping force due to lesser dignity attached to such tasks. Every individual should understand the importance of the job and respect their profession.
Sonali Sinha of the Sector Skills Council stated that as an autonomous body SSC was paving the way for standardising courses and working in a scientific manner to aggregate demand for skilled personnel. Their portal facilitated correct association of employers with employees. In fact they had the expertise in making placements and certification and assessment of the trained and that should be utilised.
Companies like Express Inn from Nashik and Swaagat from Hyderabad acknowledged the calibre and confidence of the candidates trained under DDUGKY. However it was also the efforts made by PIAs like Dhatri Foundation which made the difference due to their personal touch. No wonder Paawni of Swaagat says she has taken 75 candidates and is willing to take more.
The biggest takeaway was the interest shown by IRCTC. Mr.Rajesh Rana, Additional General Manager (Catering Services) gave a brief about the varied activities of IRCTC and their need of over 10,000 trained personnel every year. The idea of own a batch had been introduced in the Retail CXO. PIAs already have acquired state of art buildings which they are presently using for training. They could  be modified for use of the interested companies. Therefore, the idea of use a building was put forward to them. All the 30 agencies who attended the meeting expressed interest to place the candidates trained under DDUGKY.
The positivity in the air was buoyant with the energy of the skill icons. This combined with the interest of the companies who attended the meet would certainly pave the way for better services in the hospitality and tourism sector.
India ranks 7th in the world in tourism , in terms of its total contribution to the country’s GDP, according to a new report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). It also has a huge potential to increase domestic as well as international visitors and, in doing so, it can create more jobs, drive economic growth and reduce poverty. There was a huge scope for development and CXO meets like these were important for surging forward towards the true spirit of Athithi Devo Bhava......