2017-08-28 CF letter to Sarovar Hotels

Editor's Note:

• Sarovar Group's response is here.

• It came only after we wrote to Louver, it's parent organization. Our letter to Louvre is here.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From:IITKCF

Date: 27 August 2017 at 09:05

Subject: An appeal to stop the mass layoff at Visitors' Hostel, IIT Kanpur

To: Several Officerbearers of Sarovar group

Cc: Several Members of CF (alumni)

To,

Sri Anil Madhok,

Executive Chairman, Sarovar Hotels and Resorts

Dear Sri Madhok,

We have learned that your company has won a contract with IIT Kanpur (IITK) Visitors’ Hostel (VH). We had hoped that given your corporate values of social responsibility, this would be good news for the current workers who have been working there for almost 10 years and in few cases for more than 20 years. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case.

We the undersigned are a group of alumni of IITK who are very concerned with the plight of contract workers at our Alma mater. We have learned that these 70 workers have been advised that they will not be hired under your management.

These workers were interviewed and they were asked only one question, ‘How much are they earning?’ And the response in each case was ‘minimum wage’. It should be noted that paying minimum wage is a legal requirement as per Central Govt. directives. We are perplexed that they would be denied employment because they were earning a minimum wage and not less. Sarovar’s website states about its values as:

"Ethics, Integrity, Mutual Respect and Long term Associations". Our values are more than just beautiful words. They are genuine and heartfelt. They are what we put into practice in our everyday interactions with our guests, employees, partners and other stakeholders. Our values stem from strong personal beliefs and find expression in our mission statements which uphold our vision of strengthening our position as a leading player in hospitality. We believe, "collaboration is the key to mutual success and growth".

It further states that:

“We provide our employees a great work environment, treating each other with respect and dignity, continuous satisfaction and growth opportunities.”

We do not know whether this contract is managed directly by your corporation or by a sub-contractor who has managed to obtain a contract under your name. What does this management wish to do? Do they want to pay less than the prevailing minimum wages? Are there other conspicuous motives beyond our imagination? We have heard that there are some shady contractors who sell jobs expecting a payment of approximately 50 000 INR to hire a prospective employee.

Surely a reputable corporation such as yours, with the annual estimated revenue of over 500 crores will not indulge in such a petty practice. We are confident that your organization would say one thing and not mean it. We certainly hope that you intend to uphold ‘genuine and heartfelt’ values as stated in your mission statement. We believe in maintaining respect and dignity of these workers and we hope that you do the same.

We are writing to you with a request to investigate the issue of this contract and ensure that all present workers will be hired for the new contract and that the management for this project will act professionally all the while respecting your corporate values.

Numerous times, these workers have received accolades for their hospitable and efficient service from among 25000+ alumni who sometimes meet for reunions or professional meetings when they stay at VH. Most non-alumni visitors from around the world have also had similar experiences.

In the interest of providing an excellent service to the guests at VH, and being consistent with ethical corporate values, we hope that you will do the needful in ensuring that these workers are rehired so that they can continue to provide   excellent services as they have been doing for the last 10-20 years. We certainly do not want them and their families’ lives being uprooted and we are convinced that you would want the same.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely yours,

For & on behalf of IITK alumni Citizens Forum

PS: 

We have also launched an alumni petition to IITK Director: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-the-planned-layoff-of-iit-kanpur-visitors

We are also maintaining updates on our website: https://iitkcf.appspot.com/dsogIR