Empower by skilling

G Kamala Vardhan Rao, DG, MOT and CMD, ITDC, shares significance of need-based skill development in the tourism and hospitality sector.

NishaVerma

Stating the plight of the tourism and hospitality industry, G Kamala Vardhan Rao shares that every day they come to know that many hotels have been sold across the country. “If you see the WTTC report, which was released around 6 months back, globally over 27% of the hotels may not be reopening again, which is alarming. It also mentioned that many of the hotels in Dubai and the Middle East also may not be seeing light of the day. This severely impacts the employment. I keep saying that owing to the pandemic, tourism sector is the first hit, hardest hit and the longest hit. Hence, we must wait and see,when the tourism & hospitality sector will see brighter days.” he says.

Govt. for Skill Development

Claiming that the government is highly focussed on skill development, he states, “For skill development, we have over 20 ministries working. India might be one of the few countries globally, which has a separate exclusively ear-marked ministry for skill development. Apart from that, MOT, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Rural Development, and almost every ministry has some amount of their budget going for skill development, like the popular PradhanmantriKaushalYojana. In 2019-20, Ministry of Skill Development ear-marked Rs 2400 crore, and its budgetary allocations have increased to Rs. 3002 crores this year.”

He said “Earlier, people were taking care of the hotels as hotels. Now, they should know about nursing also to take care of guests who suddenly fall ill. Hence, new skills are important. Owing to such a scenario emerging at the national level, all the 20 ministries are trying to impart skills suiting their individual needs,” he informs.

Tourism sector

Rao mentions, “We recently held a conference in Leh, Ladakh and even went to Assam as part of our outreach programme in Northeast. It’s not possible to have 5-star hotels everywhere and hence homestays, budget segment hotels and boutique hotels are coming up in the remote parts of Ladakh. The LG of Ladakh  shared that one must come out with capacity building of different skills, which will suit the needs of foreign as well as domestic visitors. We are focussing on this through ‘Hunar se Rozgar’ scheme or other schemes by the MOT.”

He stresses that they are trying to look at the needs and then impart skills “In Kumarakom, Kerala for example, local self-help groups by ladies prepare fish and supply vegetables, linen, drinking water and coconut water to 5-star hotels. “State governments should get involved into developing responsible, need-based tourism and skill development,” he says. He insisted that development is meaningless unless local people are involved and engaged in it. “We need to train the local people, including guides and taxi drivers. This kind of development will only take place when you have concentrated skill imparted,” he adds.”