THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan said on Monday the state should mould skilled workers in the tourism sector. Handing over the accreditation to the courses being conducted under the aegis of the Atheos Institute of Skill Excellence, he said skilled labourers were essential for the tourism sector which has been providing a major share of Kerala’s GDP.
He said the government was looking for quality service.
“The labour front now requires only skilled labour and in view of this the government has constituted KASE.” He pointed out only those institutions which had been efficient enough to provide skilled training were given accreditation.
In case any such institution is found wanting in providing skill training, the accreditation would be withdrawn, he said.“If facts about KTDC’s growth are made public, it will trigger controversy,” say M Vijayakumar. KTDC chairman B Vijayakumar said there was a dearth of skill excellence.
He said if he reveals the real facts about the growth rate of KTDC, it would trigger a controversy. “In Kerala, hospitality is part of its culture. But speaking out against the real situation prevailing in the sector here would lead to another controversy,” he said.However, Vijayakumar said Kerala had enough potential to achieve real growth in the tourism sector.
He expressed hope that if skilled manpower was made available, in five years 25 lakh employment could be generated in tourism sector alone.Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council national head (training ) Sandeep Chabra, Atheos Educational Initiatives Pvt Ltd MD CP Rajesh, director Philip Thomas, ODPEC chairman Sasidhrana Nair, Labour Commissioner and KASE MD K Biju spoke.