Call them the lasses leading the slurp brigade. And, their bosses are being good Samaritans too. The Lucknow Hotel & Restaurant Association, comprising 700 hoteliers and restaurateurs, have come together to recruit girls on an event-by-event basis for outdoor catering. Most of these girls come from families in the low-income bracket.
Outdoor catering today, is one of the fastest growing segments in the food & beverage business of the small and medium hotels and restaurants. For them, hiring girls from poor families to man counters is cost-effective while, for the girls it’s a window to a whole new world that also helps them earn. Similar is the case for catering jobs at events across town requiring etiquette and finesse in serving a wide variety of dishes.
“We realised the futility of experimenting with the idea of hiring diploma holders in catering technology to work for us as they demand too high a price and prefer to work for star hotels. The Association members decided to help poor girls learn the art of culinary presentation such as arranging plates and salad decoration, etiquette and basic catering fundaments along with earning some money. It is working well for those who took the first step in this initiative some months back,” says Associtaion secretary-general Rajeshwar Agarwal.
He says, the girls are paid Rs 100-250 per event and the catering managers arrange to send them home safely after late- night events.
{{/usCountry}}He says, the girls are paid Rs 100-250 per event and the catering managers arrange to send them home safely after late- night events.
{{/usCountry}}“We decided not to approach the management of large hotels to help us start this small venture of training girls from low-income families as we were confident that the Association and its members would be able to promote the concept,” says Agarwal. He says, sometimes the girls are also paid to bring cooked food from home. “One of the encouraging aspects of the catering trade has been that managers responsible for catering contracts are also made responsible for the safety of the girls,” says Agarwal.