When it comes to hospitality, Taj is the name synonymous with good service and luxurious stays. Howsoever, how did the hospitality industry respond to the CoVid-19 pandemic was always a curiosity for us at LiveFromALounge.com as well. While Taj has worked on their hygiene and cleanliness protocols, they have also been quietly supporting the essential workers and the displaced during the lockdowns with meals and rooms.
As a TATA company, Indian Hotels Company Limited, the parent company of Taj Hotels & Resorts, are keenly aware of their responsibility towards the immediate community and the people within it. In 2008, in the aftermath of the blasts across Mumbai, IHCL created the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust (TPSWT) to provide relief and support to victims of natural or man-made disasters.
During the pandemic, IHCL, along with the TPSWT, worked with local authorities to provide nutritious meals to those in need across the country. IHCL delivered over 2.18 million meals in this initiative. The Taj Public Service Welfare Trust distributed nutritious meals to medical staff in key hospitals/COVID-19 centres in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. The meals were prepared and delivered by TajSATS, the airline catering outfit of Taj, in Mumbai and New Delhi.
In Mumbai, Taj worked closely with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to offer over 10,000 meals a day to the medical fraternity at the Kasturba Hospital, The King Edward Memorial Hospital, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Nair Hospital and J J Hospital. Over 9,83,000 meals were delivered till June 25. This initiative started on March 23, 2020, continued till June 25, 2020, through the lockdown.
Taj also distributed meals to medical staff in Victoria Hospital and Old Diseases Hospital in Bengaluru in partnership with the Taj West End – over 26,925 meals were delivered. As of 30th March 2020, Taj started serving meals at Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi which then expanded to include 7 hospitals in New Delhi – these were Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality H, G B Pant Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Dr Ambedkar Hospital. Over 1,91,299 meals were delivered in New Delhi. This initiative was then extended to Coimbatore and Agra as well, with Taj Hotels in these cities delivered meals to the Doctors.
An additional initiative was flagged off on March 31, 2020, when people started to move around to reach their ‘home’. In partnership with Tata Sons, TPSWT provided meals to migrant workers in Mumbai. This was also handled by TajSATS. Over 9,09,358 meals were delivered.
While all the meal initiatives ended on June 25, Taj Hotels are still delivering meals to the Mumbai medical fraternity.
Not just that, IHCL has also offered more than 45,000 Room Nights to the medical fraternity across the country.
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I always stay at Taj hotels whenever I can – one of the signs of a good hotel is staff who stay working there and when I get recognised it’s just the cherry on the cake – love the brand, love the Tata charitable generosity. I remember my Indian husband telling me that Tata gave areas of land in Mumbai for students to study under the streetlights as often they couldn’t study at home owing to the number of people living there. Never forgotten that.