HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Oct 19: Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), India’s largest hospitality company, has signed a MoU with the Assam Government to establish a hospitality-focused skills training centre in the North East, in line with the company’s ESG+ framework, Paathya. The state-of-the-art residential Centre of Excellence will be developed in collaboration with Assam Tourism Development Corporation Limited (ATDCL), Tata STRIVE Skill Development Initiative of Tata Community Initiative Trust (TCIT) and the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India, with the aim to develop talent from economically weaker and socially disadvantaged local communities.
Speaking about this development, Gaurav Pokhariyal, executive vice president, Human Resources, IHCL, stated, “The state of Assam, known for its natural beauty and rich history is also home to immense local talent. Given the growing potential of tourism and hospitality, there is significant opportunity to leverage the untapped potential of talent in the region, and we are honoured to collaborate with the Assam Government and our partners to develop a hospitality-focused skilling centre. At IHCL, community lies at the heart of all that we do, and this training will help to bridge the employability gap in the years to come.”
Related Posts:
Located at the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change & Development (OKD Institute) near Guwahati, the residential skilling centre will undertake skills training for youth from the North East across various hospitality segments. The short- and long-term courses, aligned with the requirements of the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and developed in partnership with Tata STRIVE, will offer industry knowledge that is required for employment and entrepreneurship within the hospitality sector. Post successful completion of training, the youth will also have the opportunity for internships at select IHCL hotels.
In addition to supporting the maintenance of the training infrastructure, IHCL will provide equipment for the training labs along with Tata STRIVE, in addition to basic content and subject matter expertise (SME) to support TATA STRIVE. MSDE and ATDCL will provide financial and infrastructural support to the Centre of Excellence for a period of 10 years, after which the center is slated to become self-sustainable.
Regarded as the custodian of Indian hospitality, IHCL continues to invest in building industry-relevant talent pools with an aim to develop and support deserving youth and their families, while contributing to the overall growth of the industry, as part of the Paathya framework.
Paathya aims to lead positive change guided by IHCL’s core values of trust of all stakeholders, awareness around the needs of our ecosystem and joy at heart.
Under Paathya, IHCL will continue to pioneer sustainable practices in its pursuit towards excellence and creating benchmarks in the tourism industry.
