Project Prayas: Taj Hotels, Prabha Khaitan Foundation turn hospitality floors into learning spaces for young adults with special needs
At most hotels, the welcome is where hospitality begins. At Taj Bengal this week, it was also where something bigger began — a partnership that puts young adults with special needs at the very front of the house, greeting guests, serving welcome beverages and discovering, often for the first time, what they are capable of in a professional workplace. It is like a classroom at the front desk with a concierge.
Prabha Khaitan Foundation and Taj Hotels signed a Memorandum of Understanding under Project Prayas, the Foundation's flagship social inclusion initiative, supported by Shree Cement Limited.
The agreement covers all Taj Hotels in Kolkata and commits both partners to building confidence, communication skills and real-world workplace readiness for children and young adults with special needs — not in a classroom, but on the hotel floor, guided by hospitality professionals.
The afternoon opened, fittingly, with a traditional welcome ceremony performed by the young members of Project Prayas themselves, followed by the ceremonial lighting of the lamp. On the dais were Chief Guest Suhel Seth, K Mohanchandran, Anindita Chatterjee, Executive Trustee, Prabha Khaitan Foundation and Parvinder Bual, General Manager, Taj Bengal.
Also present were Esha Dutta, Shefali Rawat Agarwal and Gouri Basu, Ehsaas women of Kolkata, Prabha Khaitan Foundation.
L to R: Shefali Rawat, Gouri Basu, Prabhakar Singh, Esha Dutta, Samik, Avishek, Sayan, Parvinder Bual, Anindita Chatterjee, Suhel Seth, K Mohanchandran, Sromona, Treena, Nitin, Hudda, Deepa, Sidhhartha Jain, Dipak Sahu. Photo: PR Team
“It is a privilege to partner with the Prabha Khaitan Foundation to skill special needs children for employment. We look forward to a long and rewarding association,” said Mohanchandran, noting that the initiative aligns with IHCL's Environment Social and Governance (ESG+) framework, Paathya, under which the company has committed to training 100,000 youth by 2030.
Suhel Seth spoke of the shared responsibility of institutions and individuals to empower young people with special needs, describing the partnership as “a watershed moment” for inclusive opportunity in India — a reminder, he said, that truly progressive nations are built on inclusive societies.
For the participants, drawn from a partner NGO with more organisations set to join, Prayas is less a training programme than a doorway. Each shift spent welcoming guests builds something no classroom can: self-confidence, independence, dignity and a sense of belonging.
Welcoming Sushmita Sen at the Taj City Centre New Town. Photo: PR Team
The initiative seeks to:
Build confidence, self-esteem and interpersonal skills through real interactions with guests
Develop workplace readiness through hands-on, experiential learning
Encourage independence and fuller participation in social life
Foster empathy and acceptance within the wider community
Treena felicitating Suhel Seth. Photo: PR Team
Together, the partners envision workplaces — and a society — where individuals with special needs are recognised for their abilities rather than their limitations, and where the path to employment, dignity and independence is open to everyone.
What is Project Prayas?
Implemented with Taj Hotels in Kolkata and supported by Shree Cement Ltd., Project Prayas gives young adults with special needs the opportunity to work alongside hotel professionals in a live hospitality environment — welcoming guests, serving beverages and supporting front-of-house activities. By demonstrating what its participants can do, rather than dwelling on what they cannot, Prayas is quietly changing how workplaces, and the people in them, think about ability.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
