The Professional Housekeepers Association (PHA) organized the 4th YOUNG VISIONARY HOUSEKEEPERS’ NATIONAL CONVENTION & 6th PHA YUVA ANNIVERSARY on 9th September 2023 at Fortune Park JP Celestial, Bengaluru. The event was witnessed by a record crowd of around 262 participants including YUVAs from 11 different Hotel Management colleges and stalwarts from Hotels, Healthcare sector, Facility Management, Aviation, Railways, Cruise liners, and Faculty Members. The theme of the Convention was “Housekeeping- Sustainable Development Goals & G20”. 

The convention commenced with a mindful meditation session by Dr. D. P. Sudhagar-Head Strategy, PHA & PHA YUVA, followed by the welcome note by Master of Ceremony, YUVAs Mr. Aniruddha K. Alur, Ms. Khushali Adesara from Ramaiah University and IIHM respectively. This was followed by the soulful rendition of a prayer song by Mr. Aneesh Goudar, PHA YUVA member Ramaiah University.

The convention commenced auspiciously with the lamp lighting ceremony led by Ms. Jayashree Nagaraj, Founder President & Chairperson-PHA, Chief Guest-Mr. Achuta Rao, Chief Operating Officer, The Windflower Resort & Spa, Mysore, Key Note Speaker-Ms. Sita Lekshmi, General Manager, Aloft-Bengaluru, Guest of Honour-Mr. Dominic Xavier, General Manager-Fortune Park JP Celestial, Bengaluru, Ms. Smritee Raghubalan, Hospitality Author, Oxford University Press & Honorary Advisor-PHA, and Ms. Elizabeth- PHA PR/ Media.

PHA corporate video was presented by Ms. Bharati Kalappa; the Vice President-Operations-PHA and PHA YUVA video was presented by Ms. Elizabeth to enable the participants to understand the initiatives and contributions made by PHA and YUVA for the fraternity.

In her welcome address, Ms. Jayashree Nagaraj welcomed the Chief Guest for the opening ceremony - Mr. Achuta Rao, Key Note Speaker-Ms. Sita Lekshmi, Guest of Honour Mr. Dominic Xavier, and other esteemed guests, collaborators, PHA life members, YUVA mentors and PHA YUVA member participants to the convention.

Mr. Achuta Rao in his opening remarks stated the importance of using biodegradable products on a professional as well as personal front. In her keynote address, Ms. Sita encouraged everyone to lead a sustainable life and advocated the need for digital transformation and gender equality in every sector. In his opening remarks, Mr. Dominic Xavier suggested that adopting sustainability at every level of our daily lives will help us in enhancing our own personality. 

The proceedings of the convention continued with the launch of PHA YUVA Goals-2030. It was launched by Ms. Jayashree Nagaraj, Mr. Achuta Rao, Ms. Sita Lekshmi, Mr. Dominic Xavier, Ms. Sandhya AnilKumar, Ms. Smritee Raghubalan, and Dr. D. P. Sudhagar. 15 Unique goals were highlighted for PHA YUVA 2030 on Developing Talent for the Global Housekeeping Industry. 

A panel discussion on the topic ‘Role of Housekeeping in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals & G20’ was organized. It was moderated by Dr. Jitendra Das, Senior Lecturer, IHM-Chennai. The prominent members of the panel discussion were Ms. Bindu KC, Corporate Housekeeper, Abad Hotels and Resorts-representing the hotel industry; Ms. Indrani Sanyal, General Manager-Housekeeping Medica Super-specialty Hospital, representing healthcare sector; Mr. Ralph Sunil, Senior Vice President-Administration, JSW Steel, Vijayanagar Works-representing Facility Management sector; Mr. Saptarishi Mukherjee, Director-Head Airside Operations-South and west India, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, Indigo, representing Aviation sector; Mr. Ajay Singh, Environment and Housekeeping Wing, South Western Railway representing Railways; Ms. Susan James Govanakoppa, Incharge-Shore Excursions, Royal Caribbean International Cruise-liners representing Cruise Liners; and Mr. Amalan Kumar Dasgupta, Vice President-Skill Development, Presidency College of Hotel Management representing Academia.

Setting the milestone in presenting sustainable housekeeping practices, the MCs introduced ‘Pecha Kucha’ - a storytelling format of presentation method that calls for telling a story using images rather than reading texts for slides during a ppt presentation. These presentations use 20 slides and allow only 20 seconds of commentary per slide. Ms. Babita Butola, Deputy Housekeeper, Vivanta Bengaluru, Whitefield presented her Pecha Kucha on the topic ‘contactless experience’, whereas Mr. Shivakumar V, Senior Manager – Housekeeping, Prestige Property Management & Services presented Pecha Kucha on ‘The Significance of Human Resources’. Mr. Ranajit Behera, Senior Maintenance Manager- Services, Bangalore International Airport Limited explained his very interactive and motivated Pecha Kucha on ‘5S’. The last Pech Kucha for the event was presented by Mr. Niranjan Khatri, Founder, iSambhav on ‘Sustainability’.

Ms. Smritee Raghubalan organized a very informative ‘Sustainable Housekeeping’ quiz for the PHA YUVA members. Teams from IHM, Chennai, IHM Hyderabad, Ramaiah University Bengaluru, GIHMCT Nagpur, and Sea College, Bengaluru participated in the final round of the quiz. PHA YUVA team IHM Hyderabad bagged the first place and the team from Ramaiah University was the runner-up.

PHA YUVA also presented India’s First Educational Exhibition for Housekeeping representing varied products and services-based ancillary industry brands like Vooki, Green Maneuver Industries LLP, Diversey, and Raenco. 

Another interesting discussion ‘Face-to-face with Gen Z and the Allied Industry Leaders’ took place on the topic ‘Emerging career opportunities in Allied Industries’, moderated by Dr. Sudhagar. The eminent panel members for the discussion were proud ten PHA YUVA members from different participating institutes, and the experts from Vooki, SARAYA Mystair Hygiene Private Ltd., Raenco, Green Maneuver Industries LLP, Diversey, ZYVANA integrated services Pvt Ltd and Buzil Rossari.

The proceedings of the convention continued with the conferring of the PHA Par Excellence Awards. Fourteen PHA Life Members were recognized for working towards building a sustainable industry, fraternity, and PHA. The award for the competition ‘Innovation in Housekeeping to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals was given to different PHA YUVA members for achieving 17 individual Sustainable Development Goals. The best YUVA Mentors award was presented to 5 esteemed PHA life members for extending their expertise for the growth and development of the PHA YUVA fraternity. And the Overall Champions Trophy of the 4th YOUNG VISIONARY HOUSEKEEPERS’ NATIONAL CONVENTION & 6th PHA YUVA ANNIVERSARY was awarded to the IHM Chennai.

Cultural Extravaganza was presented by PHA YUVA members from GIHM, Nagpur; Ramaiah University of Applied Science, Bangalore; IIHM, Bangalore; IHM, Chennai and Acharya Institute of Management and Science, Bangalore.

All participants grooved to the PHA anthem presented by Mr R. S. Ganesh Narayan-Heritage Associate Support Partner-PHA, and concluding the convention, Dr. Thomas Mathew proposed the vote of thanks. The convention ended with the national anthem.