Indian hospitality giant, ITC WelcomGroup has
employed about 215 People with Disabilities (PWDs)
at its flagship properties in India and through
its supply chain. It started with the employment
of one PwD three years ago under the new
WelcomEnviron Initiatives programme, a chain
which finds ecological solutions. Now it has
reached a three digit figure in PwD employment
and is in a process of engaging all its
suppliers to employ PwD in their organisations.
This message was divulged by Niranjan Khatri,
General Manager, WelcomEnviron Initiatives.
The
company has also developed a simple handbook for
the hotel industry that directs one on how to
employ PwD and is freely available on its
website. According to Khatri, eighty five
percent of ITC WelcomGroup flagship properties
have special accessible infrastructure for PwD,
such as toilets, talking lift and special room
et al. “Now, we will design future hotel
properties on the same lines. By employing PwD,
the industry can take a positive step towards
making a difference to individuals and society
at large,” he added.
Employed PwD work in various departments at ITC
WelcomGroup properties. To name a few: a girl
with mental palsy handles the linen room at the
Rajputana Sheraton, Jaipur; a mobility
challenged girl handles the telephone in
engineering control room at the Sheraton, New
Delhi; a visually challenged violinist plays at
the Welcomhotel Grand Bay, Visakhapatnam; a
visually challenged flautist plays at the Park
Sheraton, Chennai; two pianists — one male, one
female — both, visually challenged, play at the
ITC Grand Central, Mumbai and eight hearing and
speech impaired boys work in housekeeping and
pantry at the ITC Green Centre, Gurgaon.
