Lemon Tree Hotels (LTH), in partnership with National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) will be organising the 16th NCPEDP-Lemon Tree Hotels Helen Keller Awards to celebrate, motivate and encourage individuals and organisations working to promote equal opportunities for employment for differently abled.
Over the years, the Awards became the most prestigious Indian benchmark for honouring people and organisations working in this area.
“We are delighted to announce that Lemon Tree Hotels – the group that actually walks the talk when it comes to employment of persons with disability is the new partner for the Award,” Javed Abidi, Honorary Director, NCPEDP, said.
The Helen Keller Awards were discontinued by NCPEDP after 15 years in 2013 but have been relaunched this year under much pressure from companies/ NGOs and persons with disabilities employed with them.
“We are very happy to partner with NCPEDP on the Helen Keller award which celebrates those who promote equal opportunities for all. This is well aligned with our strategy of building a diverse workforce at Lemon Tree Hotels by mainstreaming employees with disability,” Patu Keswani, Chairman & Managing Director, LTH, said.
Each year a total of 10 Awards are given – three each in two individual categories and four for role model companies/organisations. The awards are given on December 2, on the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
LTH is an exemplary role model when it comes to employing people with disability. The hotel was itself the recipient of the Helen Keller Award in 2010 and today has over 15% of its total employee base pan India as EWDs – a feat unparalleled in the Indian corporate sector.
The story of the Helen Keller Awards started way back in 1999 as a result of the findings of a survey conducted of the Top 100 Companies of India by NCPEDP. The results showed the average percentage of employment of people with disabilities was as follows: in the public sector: 0.54%; in the private sector: 0.28%; and in the multinationals: 0.05%.
While the situation has improved to some extent in the past decade and a half, but it is still not even close to covering half the percentage of persons with disabilities living in the country.
LTH is India’s fastest growing chain of upscale, midscale and economy hotels. This award winning Indian hotel chain was founded in September 2002 and currently owns and operates 27 hotels in 16 cities with over 3000 rooms and 3500 employees.