Hotel management schools add terror fight in syllabus

CHANDIGARH: Shaken into action mode by the 26/11 Mumbai tragedy, hotel management institutes in Chandigarh, which attract youth from the entire north, have

decided to include in their syllabus strategies to fight and handle terror attacks.

The decision has been taken, as one of the top institutes of the region said, ���to ensure that our students, if caught in Taj-like situation, are better equipped to handle the exigency������.

Talking to TOI on Friday, most heads of the management institutes said they have charted plans to impart some form of the combat training. The new courses, they said, would include rescue operations, fire drills and first aid techniques. It would start immediately from the next session.

���We will give basic training to our students to face such terror attacks and other contingencies,������ said Naveen Kumar Nanchahal, principal, Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management. ���The new courses will now be part of an existing curriculum. Earlier, such things had never happened but things are different today. Students should be able to face such situations with courage.������ He said the proposal has been met with thumping approval from his present batch of 550 students.



There are institutes, though, which are already preparing their students to manage fire and natural disasters. ���However, having pupils learn to combat terror-attacks is an altogether different game,������ said Sanjeev Verma, principal, Chitkara School of Hospitality. Terming it significant for those aspiring to make it big in the hospitality sector, he added, ���In the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai, students will soon be trained to tackle such hostilities.������

In a related development, local associations of hotels and restaurants owners have already decided to unanimously approach the Chandigarh administration, requesting it to form a task force under which its present staff would be trained to tackle terrorism.