Clean India Journal Editor

The Alpha and Omega of Hotel Operations

When choosing a hotel to stay in, guests tend to consider factors like the location, the amenities offered and the size of rooms. The cleanliness of the property is often taken for granted. Think about it… If you failed to notice that long strand of hair in your bathtub, would you worry about the cleanliness in your room?

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Maintaining Mangalore Airport

In this centenary year 2011-12 of the civil aviation, India also takes pride of being the 9th largest market in the aviation world and in the forward march, it is expected to become one of the three largest markets in the world by 2020. With the air passenger traffic likely to cross over 300 million (domestic) & 100 million (international) by 2020, the Airport Authority of India is investing heavily in sprucing up Indian airports to meet world class standards. The Mangalore Airport with its newly constructed integrated terminal is leaving no stone unturned to match the cleaning standards of any international airport. On August 1, the cleaning of the new terminal was outsourced to Durga Facility Management Pvt Ltd for mechanized housekeeping services.
In an exclusive interview,
M R Vasudeva, Director-Airport Authority of India, Mangalore, explains to Mohana M the Airport’s plans to provide international standards to passengers.

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Eco-initiatives at IIM

Members of the ECoBiZ Club at IIM Shillong have come up with an initiative by placing bamboo-made waste bins or khoh at various places in the campus. The bins have…

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Creating benchmarks in Cleaning Standards

Namrata Marwaha, Executive Housekeeper, the Leela Palace Kempinski, New Delhi, has been with the group for the last three decades spearheading the housekeeping divisions of various Leela properties. Namrata is passionate about building & motivating her team and bringing in creative ideas in housekeeping.

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Maintenance in Banks: Are contract strictures undermining quality?

An old expression on price versus quality: Cheap things are not good, good things are not cheap. This is as true in every sector as much as it is in facility maintenance. Originally, maintenance largely kept in house, was determined by factors such as cost, control and cleanliness. This is true of the banking sector too. Either the security guard did cleaning himself or a local cleaner was hired to maintain the bank premises. Primarily such practices enabled in giving a clean look at low costs.

With many multinational banks, nationalised banks and private banks opening several branches in various cities and ATMs at almost every street, the need for better cleaning standards is enhanced. The heavy footfall during working hours at all these premises has paved the way for outsourcing professional maintenance services. Outsourcing, simply put, would mean hiring workers to clean but in actual terms it’s not just about outsourcing maintenance services but outsourcing the right service provider. It’s about the right vendor implementing the best cleaning practices; about engaging the right cleaning aids and agents; about paying the right cost to procure these aids…

Cost control by way of automating maintenance processes resulting in higher efficiency is yet to catch up in many segments, including banking which is broadly divided into cooperative banks, private banks, nationalised banks and international banks in India. As more and more banks have now begun outsourcing cleaning services, what is the prime factor that determines their choice while hiring a contractor? Cost or Quality?

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10 minute act!!! Getting the multiplex spruced up between the shows

Multiplexes today are more than just places of entertainment. Red carpet welcome, auditorium ambience, comfortable pushback chairs and hot samosas / patties, popcorn, ice-cold cola… served at your seat. But the people seem to be unconcerned about the litter they throw around. Anita Rodrigues, Vice-President of Inox Leisure Ltd ensures that the auditorium is made spic & span minutes before a show begins. Wonder how she gets it cleaned? Preeti Swaminathan narrates with interest the 10-minute cleaning scene at Inox, Mumbai.

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Interview with: Mayor AK Premajam, Thiruvananthapuram on a – Cleaning mode

Encouraged by the successful experiments by the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation in installing modern e-toilets for women, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation has begun to procure these toilets for the city. Biju K, Municipal Secretary, Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, shares with CIJ the major cleanliness and hygiene initiatives he has taken since he took over charge four months back.

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