Mumbai dabbawalas to give management tips to students

Known for their management skills, a team of Dabbawalas will share information about their management skills and experience with professionals and students of Kota.

Mumbai’s Dabbawalas (tiffin deliverymen) will teach ‘management lessons’ to engineering and management students in Kota on April 17 at a talk show.

Mumbai dabbawalas collect tiffin boxes from Spice Box- Mumbai's first e-commerce tiffin service- in Andheri.(Satish Bate/HT file photo)

Career Point University (CPU) and Junior Chamber International (JCI) are jointly hosting the event

Known for their management skills, a team of Dabbawalas will share information about their management skills and experience with professionals and students of Kota.

At a press conference in Kota, organising chairman of the talk show Lokesh Maheshwari from JCI Kota said Dabbawalas, a group of 5,000 people are working professionally since 125 years, distributing lunch boxes to the people of Mumbai.

“Dabbawalas distribute around 2 lakh lunch boxes in 60 km area within 3 hours daily,” he said. Due to their nearly error free performance with 99.99% accuracy, Dabbawalas have got a ‘Six Sigma’ certification reserved only to highly professional organisations. “Mumbai’s Dabbawalas have earned their place in the Guinness Book of World Records for their work,” he said.

JCI president Vinay Sharma said though not very highly paid, Dabbawalas perform their work with accuracy and professionalism which is a management lesson.

“That’s why JCI and CPU have jointly organised a talk show with Dabbawalas at CPU auditorium in Kota in which four Dabbawalas will share key aspects of their management skills. Time management, quality assurance and dedication can be learnt from Dabbawalas,” he informed.

In the past, Dabbawalas’ had delivered lectures in premier institutions of the country like IIT, IIM and also renowned institutions like Oxford and Stanford universities.