It took over 21 months for the Taj Mahal Palace to reopen the doors of its heritage wing to visitors after 26/11,but it took them only two months to constitute a trust fund for the kin of terror victims. HN Srinivas,Senior Vice President (Human Resources) and in charge of the trust fund,said though the fund was initially meant for Taj employees who had suffered in the attack,it was later expanded to include victims from all over the city. We realized the families of so many underprivileged victims were left in dire straits,and we had to do something for them, he said. With the total funds estimated at 11 crore,the trust has been functional since December 2008. The agenda was envisioned with the help of faculty members from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences(TISS). With a couple of representatives overseeing its activities at the Taj,students from TISS and the Tata Hotel Management Institute at Aurangabad have been doing the ground work for almost two years now. Three hundred and sixty families who needed immediate help were identified with the help of the District Collector of Mumbai. We divided them into six zones,according to their residential areas.One hundred and thirty five of these were helped to open bank accounts. The breadwinners had passed away in these families. So we had to start from the scratch. We provided them with an initial deposit of about Rs 10,000 a month,and taught them basic banking operations, Srinivas added. Ten families who wanted to set up micro enterprises were identified and assisted. Our aim was to help people in the crisis situation and to ensure that they are able to fend for themselves in future. Thus,we helped one boy to buy an autorickshaw. We assisted him in the loan application procedure,and provided the initial deposit amount of Rs 30,000. The loan he got was in our guarantee, Srinivas said. A vada pav cart was bought for a 65-year-old vendor who lost his cart in the attack. He was at VT station at the time of the attack and took a bullet in his leg. We paid for his treatment at Bombay Hospital first. Later when we found he had lost his only source of employment,we bought him basic supplies and a cart, recounts Srinivas. Another 37 people were identified for vocational training in hospitality management at the Taj. Most of these were widows of victims. They were trained for nine months,and now we are proud to say that all of them have been absorbed in our hotels in Mumbai,Lucknow and Delhi, Srinivas said. Inspired by the success of this programme,the Taj Group has started a similar initiative in Lonavla that has now found the support of the State Government. We have set up an institute for hospitality management courses for waiters,housekeeping and kitchen staff. Our first batch of 40 students has already passed out. Candidates have to pay a nominal fee of Rs 2 to Rs 5 for this four-month course. Staff members from Taj Hospitals in various cities visit this centre to train students. We expect to take about 100-150 candidates in the next batch, Srinivas adds. The fund activities are evaluated every month by the Human Resource department of the hotel and TISS faculty members. We now plan to extend this effort further,and create a permanent trust fund so that it serves in any future emergency of this nature. We are working on gathering the finances, concludes Srinivas.
