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Published: Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 11:41 IST
Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

Meet a doorman who is speech and hearing impaired, yet manages to delight you
with his charming smile and barely noticeable disability. Meet front desk people
who welcome you cheerfully ² you wouldn¶t even know they were differently abled.

The time when those with disabilities were forced to work in unglamorous, boring
industries could be past as following global trends, the services and hospitality
industry in India has launched several corporate social responsibility (CSR)
activities that incorporate training and hiring differently abled workers.

ITC Welcomgroup, in collaboration with several NGOs such as

Enable India and LRC, has been organising training camps for differently abled
prospective hires as part of its CSR activities. From those with dyslexia to those
who are speech, hearing and visually impaired to polio-stricken people ² all are
welcome to experience and undergo training under the ITC programme. After a
month-long training, some have been absorbed by hospitality major ITC, while
others have moved on to jobs in other service sectors.

Stanley, a visually and speech-impaired employee, is not deterred by the physical

challenges. Ask him how he likes his job and he responds in sign language with a
wide smile: ³Acquiring a job here has altered my life as I can live with dignity. I can
be as independent as others and I consider my job a blessing.´

He isn¶t the only one to respond this way. ³We are accepted with respect wherever
we go. It is good to see people treating us as normal humans rather than looking at
us with pity,´ explains Ketki Raval, who is employed as an officer at the quality
department at ITC Windsor.

³It¶s amazing to see them invest 100% attention into their jobs and the output is
always very impressive. They all work with so much intensity that we are seldom
reminded of their disability,´ says Vinita Bartlett, public relations manager, ITC
Windsor.

The Royal Orchid group of hotels too seems to be showing keen interest in
employing differently-abled people. Having started only a couple of months ago, the
hotel chain has so far employed three people with disabilities after training them for
a short period of time. They have hired two personnel through NGO Enable India to
man the hotel desk.

³We need to look for people who are customer-centric. Although employing hearing
and speech impaired candidates may seem counter-intuitive, we have found that
their disability doesn¶t pose as a hindrance. They are as sharp in picking up the
skills of the trade as anybody else and the entire staff works with them like a
family,´ says AK Sinha, vice president, human resources department, Royal Orchid.
He believes that giving the differently-abled bonafide jobs at which they can work
with their dignity intact is one of the best ways to contribute to society.

The ITC programme found, for instance, that some of the candidates were very well
educated and they are now working in responsible positions. Sanjeev Sharma, HR
Manager, ITC Windsor, says, ³We started out a training program for the disabled in
2006 in collaboration with support functions such as Accenture and Enable India.
We have altered our working environment to suit the needs of the differently-abled.´
The hotel received the coveted NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Award in 2006 and
2007 and ITC Welcomgroup received the award for 2008 for being a µRole Model
Supporter of Increased Employment Opportunities For Disabled People¶.

The Taj Group of Hotels, on the other hand, aims at helping the less privileged on a
larger scale by employing the disabled along with contributing towards causes like
reduction of malnutrition, promoting indigenous artisans and enhancing
employability of identified target groups.