Speaking at the glittering function organized by IHM Pusa she applauded the role of the Institutes of Hotel Management in providing quality education to all aspiring people to fulfill the needs of skilled manpower in the hospitality industry. She pointed out that there is a need of 2.03 lakhs skilled people in hospitality industry every year. To meet this growing demand her Ministry has planned to start new hospitality institutes in the country. Ministry of Tourism is also asking the existing institutes to increase the number of craft level courses and short term courses to provide manpower at the cutting edge level.
The Skill Development Programmes started under “Hunar Se Rojgar” will offer short but quality training courses covering i) Food & Beverage Service and ii) Food Production. The programme will target the youth of weaker sections of societies who are interested in joining the hospitality industry and are in need to acquire skills facilitating employment. Kumari Selja further mentioned that there would be accommodation and hotels for every section of tourists, be it domestic or international at the time of Delhi Commonwealth Games–2010. It is expected that more than 1,00,000 tourists will visit Delhi during the Commonwealth Games. “Maximum number of tourists would prefer staying in small and economic hotel instead of 5-Star Hotels. The Guest Houses spread over Delhi will provide a large number of rooms to accommodate the tourists” added Kumari Selja.
She also talked about the initiatives underway for the development of niche tourist products. “Guidelines are being framed for development and promotion of Caravan Tourism and Heliport Tourism for destinations which have tourism potential but lack accessibility. The Ministry will provide central financial assistance to State Governments or UT Administrations for construction of Convention Centre in each state/ UT for the promotion of MICE Tourism. We are also developing sites for Rural Tourism, Buddhist Heritage Tourism, Adventure Tourism and Medical Tourism,” She said.
Sujit Banerjee, Secretary (Tourism) commended the Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa in the Survey of Guest Houses and in the training of the Owners, Managers and staff of the Guest Houses. He also talked about the initiatives of Ministry of Tourism in providing hospitality education in the country. “The Ministry of Tourism is having a target of setting 8 more IHMs and 15 more Food Craft Institutes during the remaining period of 11th plan.” He said.
Sanjay Kothari, Additional Secretary (Tourism) elaborated upon the programmes offered by the Institute under “Hunar se Rojgar” and Management Development Programme for Guest House Owners and Skills Development Programme for Guest House Staff and National Skill Certification for hospitality personnel. Thirty participants each have been enrolled for the two trades of Cooks and Waiters respectively representing a cross-section of catering establishment of the capital. Experts from the Pusa institute would deliver the programme comprising six weeks training in F&B Service and eight weeks for the Food Production staff. It was heartening to note that the Ministry of Textile too has come forward to supplement the MoT’s initiative by providing two sets of customized uniforms for the two trades covered under the programme MoT is giving all financial support for the programme and is providing stipend of Rs. 1,500 for F&B and Rs. 2,000 for Food Production.
