Chennai :
A display of vegetables and fruits intricately carved to resemble flowers and animals, and ice sculptures bravely weathering Chennai’s heat greeted visitors on the lawn of the Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition in Taramani on Friday. It was awards night, and the place and the students were decked up suitably.
Students and faculty of the institute bagged nine national awards of excellence in hospitality education, including best award for operational performance and special award for all round performance. Secretary of tourism R Kannan gave away the awards to the students and faculty. He distributed prizes to the winners of various competitions held during Kalakriti Sangam 2015, a three-day national level inter-institute competition on culinary and table placement skills, held at the institute.
The institute, established in 1963 and inaugurated by then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, has been sending graduates to the hospitality industry within and outside India from inception.
Institute principal and secretary S Rajamohan said, “The biggest challenges we face is Chennai’s climate, and the orthodox mentality of south Indians that prevents them from encouraging students to join this industry. There is a lot of opportunity in the hospitality industry with ample growth.” He said that the institute has been seeing a 100% placement record for the last seven years. The starting salary for a graduate ranges between 16,000 to 28,000 in India and around 40,000 overseas.
R Rangachari, advisor to South India Hotels and Restaurants Association, said one of the main aims of the institute was to upgrade the quality of life of rural people, teach them skills and provide them with employment opportunities. Shabin Sarvotham, senior general manager of GRT Grand Hotel, said, “We have seen the institute grow from offering a three-year undergraduate course to various certificate and craft courses and capacity-building programmes for professionals. It will continue to grow.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / February 14th, 2015