A pound of flesh

Want a hospitality education? Keep aside over a lakh for development of infrastructure and welfare of the institutes. In this episode of  The 'Best Keep Secrets', Savio Rodrigues throws light on the dealings that take place in hospitality institutes for securing admission to a hotel management course…

Corruption is a rampant phenomenon that has become a sort of legacy in India. But this accepted evil was believed to be mostly doing its rounds in the aisles of government offices, boardrooms of corporates and even in educational institutes like medical or engineering colleges and primary schools.

However, the terms 'donations' - as it is commonly called in the educational circuit - or 'bribes' in mainstream jargon, are not something one is accustomed to hearing in reference to hospitality education. Primarily since, as believed by many in the industry, the need to resort to any unscrupulous admission procedures is not warranted, given that the demand and value attached to this field of education is not as high as compared to the medical or engineering fields.

This however, in our belief, is just feigned ignorance on the part of the hospitality education authorities, institutes and almost all hoteliers. Today, to secure admission in a good hotel management institute, whether government-run or approved or private colleges, it is imperative that parents make arrangements for monies other than course fees. An additional sum is to be arranged for, often to be paid under-the-table, in order to ensure that their child gets into the particular college of repute and the transaction needs to be done in ‘cash’. While this might not be the case in all institutes in the country, it certainly a practice in many institutes across all states.

Express Hospitality conducted an investigation covering over 20 hotel management institutes in key cities of Maharashtra, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and some of the findings were astonishing. In our research we spoke to various principals, trustees, parents of the wards, and students studying in the particular colleges.

Let's take a look at some of the realities to the myths we've uncovered.

Of the institutes, it was found that at least 60 per cent of the institutes did indulge in some form of unscrupulous dealings. In fact, different institutes have different terminology for this practice. Some choose to call it 'infrastructure fund' while others, especially in private colleges, prefer to come out straight and call it 'donations'.

For example, when this reporter called the principal of a college in Mumbai - an institute under the aegis of the AICTE - she flatly denied that such practices take place in Indian hospitality educational institutes. But, when cornered on a particular case wherein the principal has herself asked the parent for an additional sum of Rs 80,000 as extra admission monies to paid, she retracted her earlier statement saying that "it is an amount we asks parents to pay for the institute's infrastructure fund and the amount is totally dependent on affordability of the students." Enquiries with students revealed that those seeking admission into the college for their hotel management courses were asked to pay anywhere between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 in cash.

This college being under the aegis of AICTE, like many other such institutes, we then contacted the concerned AICTE official in Mumbai, who accepted that some colleges undertake such dubious measures and they are aware of the concern. However, he claimed that they couldn't take action against such institutes, as they do not receive feedback or complaints from the parents of the students.

A parent that this reporter spoke to narrated his plight when it came to the admission of his son in yet another prestigious hotel management institute in Karnataka, saying that "I cannot help but pay the donation as I would like my child to get the best education in hospitality."

Even the holier-than-thou IHMs have not been spared the evil of 'donations', though all authorities spoken to claimed otherwise. What our research revealed is that, not so obvious to everyone, such acts do take place in pockets and at higher levels. These instances are normally associated with the 'society elite', whose children want to pursue a career in the Indian hospitality industry and can pay such handsome sums or are connected with the right powers-that-be.

A new term used for donations at hospitality institutes is 'International Placements', owing to affiliations with international hotel management institutes. Such colleges charge an extra fee, over the normal fees, to assist students in getting job placements in foreign hotels, especially the Gulf countries. And this is more rampant in the south Indian hotel management institutes.

A leading hotelier from Bangalore expressed that there is nothing wrong if he had to pay an additional donation to enroll his son into a prestigious institute - affiliated with one of the world's leading hotel school, Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Switzerland. "It is way of life in this country," he said.

Now with hospitality education coming into the limelight - owing to the stupendous growth that the Indian tourism industry is witnessing, and is projected to experience in the coming years - 'hospitality education' will be the buzz word, akin to medical and engineering some years back. In this scenario, 'donations', 'infrastructure funds', etc, at institutes seem destined to become more open, forthright and accepted, like it has come to be expected and accepted in government circles to ask for bribes.

With more students looking for a career in hotel management and few colleges offering quality courses, it looks like hospitality educational institutes are bracing themselves to enhance their coffers.

editorial@expresshospitality.com