If the demand made by some “strictly vegetarian” students are to be conceded, hotel management courses would have to come in two variants — vegetarian and non-vegetarian.
While some vegetarian students have demanded that they be given a degree without having to cook non-veg food in the course, the Karnataka State Higher Education Council has said that this is “impractical”. The debate, however, is yet to conclude on this tricky issue.
Compulsory in class
The idea was mooted by a Pune-based resident, Chandrashekhar R. Lunia, who wrote to the Chief Minister’s office saying that several vegetarian students were finding it difficult to pursue the course as cooking non-vegetarian food was compulsory in practical classes. He asked the government to consider if a different degree could be awarded for those cooking vegetarian food only. However, this was shot down as faculty members said the syllabus involves learning non-vegetarian dishes as well.
Some industry experts echo the same opinion. Kasi Viswanathan, vice-president, South Indian Culinary Association, said, “It is indeed very subjective and depends on what the student wants to pursue after graduation and whether they want to start their own vertical. But learning how to cook non-vegetarian is essential to broaden their horizons,” he said.
Currently, it is mandatory for students to take practical classes which involves cooking non-vegetarian food. However, some institutes such as Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences have decided to “tweak” the syllabus by giving vegetarian students the option of not cooking non-vegetarian, but be observers in practical classes.
Venkatadri V.R., principal of the Institute of Hotel Management, said that students have to spend eight hours of cooking in the kitchen per week and many vegetarian students do not enrol in the course.
He also said the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology had allowed some institutes to start vegetarian courses in hotel management.
Vibhor Khetan, a final-year hotel management student said having two types of courses was not feasible. “In fact, I started the course as a vegetarian, but when you join the industry you cannot be rigid and need to adapt. We may end up working in a kitchen that serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, and we need to be prepared for this,” he said.