New Delhi: The Minister of State for Tourism, Sultan Ahmed today gave away the National Awards for Excellence in Hospitality Education for the year 2008-09.

Speaking on the occasion he said, "The Ministry of Tourism is making all efforts to expand the institutional infrastructure for training in the hospitality sector and the target is to set up 19 state institutes of hotel management and 25 Food Craft Institutes (FCIs). As of now, 14 Institutes of Hotel Management (IHMs) and 11 FCIs have already been sanctioned."

Expressing hope that the ministry will meet its target for the 11th Plan, Ahmed said, in the first or second year of the 12th Plan, the competitive milieu may well comprise over 80 institutes.

"The success and standing of an IHM depends on how strong its interface is with the industry, for that has a direct bearing of employment of the students passing out," said the minister

He urged the institutes to strengthen this interface by becoming an important meeting point for the academia and the industry.

Ahmed said that the ministry has taken the IHMs and FCIs on board for the delivery of two of its important programmes namely 'Hunar Se Rozgar Tak' and the National Skill Certification Programme.

The first one aims at creating employable skills amongst youth of the poorer sections of the society in the age group of 18-25 years. The other programme certifies the skills of the existing service providers.

He said, "This formal recognition of skills is important and as it adds to the employability and dignity of the service provider. Such programmes also give the institutes an opportunity to actively and directly participate in the development programmes with a social concern."

Sujit Banerjee, Secretary, government of India, Ministry of Tourism presided over the function. The awards covered three categories, namely awards for students, teaching faculty and institutes.

The awardees in the first category were the students who got selected on the strength of their academic performance. In all, 22 students were awarded. Each winner received a medal, a certificate of academic excellence and a cash prize.

In the teachers group, 10 awards were given away. Each of the 10 award-winning teachers received Rs.25000 in cash and a certificate. This was for the first time that awards to teachers were given.

In all, 19 awards were given away and in addition, five special achievement awards were made. IHM-Chennai bagged the National Award for being the best hospitality institute, while FCI-Balangir was awarded for their all-round excellence.

The awardees Rajni Sekhri Sibal, Director, Haryana Institute of Public Administration, Sarabjit Singh, President Indian Tourist Transporters Association, New Delhi and Bobby K.S. Sawhney Treasurer, Indian Tourist Transporters Association, New Delhi, were chosen for their contribution towards institutionalizing training of taxi drivers in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi.

Rajinder Kumar, President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India, New Delhi and Nakul Anand, President, Hotel Association of India, New Delhi were given awards for their contribution in organizing special training programme through hotels in Delhi under Hunar Se Rozgar Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism.

Each special awardee was presented with a scroll of honour.