State Project Management Unit, Department of Rural Development, Govt of Uttarkahand organized the CxO meet on the theme “Skilling requirement of Tourism and Hospitality Sector” under Deen Dayal Upadhya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna at Hotel Ramada, Dehradun on 28 th Feb 2019. The occasion was organized under the Chairmanship of Smt. Manisha Panwar ,Principal Secretary , Department of Rural Development, Government of Uttarakhand.
Senior members from various organizations in Hospitality and Tourism Sector such as Uttarakhand Hotels Association, Indian Association of Tour Operators, KFC, Absolute Barbeque etc. among others participated. The meet witnessed the deliberation on the “skill requirements of the tourism and hospitality sector of Uttarakhand”. Sodexo, Sapphire foods, Jubiliant Foodworks, Ishan Foods, Eka hospitality and Absolute barbecue were felicitated for their continuous support and providing employment to candidates trained under DDU-GKY scheme in Uttarakhand.
Principal Secretary, Rural Development Department and Secretary, Skill Development and Additional Secretary Industries and Chief Operating Officer, DDUGKY released the 1 st Newsletter Kaushal Vikas descripting the activities undertaken by SPMU, State Rural Development Mission under the DDUGKY scheme.
Recognizing the achievements of the candidates who have been successfully employed and are earning salaries above Rs 10,000/- were recognized as “Shining star” of DDU-GKY were also awarded. Speaking on the occasion Principal Secretary Manisha Panwar said that the Uttarakhand government is focusing on Hospitality and Tourism sector. In the recently concluded investment Submit “Destination Uttarakhand”, lot of investment is committed for the sector. She also expressed the key of recruiters in identifying the skills expected from their workforce. It was pointed out that there need to be extra efforts towards providing state bound employment opportunities.
Dr Prabhakar Bebni, Chief operating Officer – DDU-GKY, Uttarakhand encouraged the industry to participate as Project Implementation Agencies, provide internships, on-job trainings and industrial visits.
Mr. Ranjit Sinha, Secretary Skills, shared his valuable insights on skills required and the government interventions being undertaken. He also believes that tourism and skills curriculum must start as early as class 8 th in schools. Under the moderation of Mr H S Chauhan, Director, Drool Foods panel of industrialists and government representatives deliberated on the skills and implementation models for the development of the future ready workforce.
Mr. Ravinder Chanana, CEO, Skill Reporter emphasized on the inevitable need of introducing skill training on bloging and digital marketing to strengthen tourism and hospitality ecosystem in state. Zia Siddiqui from IATO shared his vast experience in the establishment of PPP training models.
Dr Prabhakar Bebni, Chief operating Officer – DDU-GKY, Uttarakhand thanked the industries and other participants for making the event successful and also thank the Technical Support agency Team of PricewaterhouseCoopers for organizing the event.
A panel discussion on “Skill requirement in Tourism and Hospitality Sector in Uttarakhand where the panalists discussed issues related to skill gaps due to changing landscape of sector, steps required to lure industry towards skill development, role of entrepreneurship and startups to boost sector etc. The panalists for the discussion were:
- Mr Ranjit Sinha (IAS), Secretary, Skill Development, Government of Uttarakhand
- Mr Umesh Narayan Pandey (IAS), Additional Secretary, Industry
- Mr Sandeep Sahni, President, Uttarakhand Hotel Association
- Mr H S Chauhan, Director, Drool Foods
- Mr Ravinder Chanana, Founder, Skill Reporter ( www.skillreporter.com ) and Nastha Corner ( www.nashtacorner.com ), a serial entrepreneur
- Mr Zia Siddique, Executive Committee Member, IATO
- Mr. Sundeep Chhabra, National Head-Training, Tourism & Hospitality Skill Council
