Khaas is an absolutely 'Khaas' travel agency run with the determination and courage by the awesome five visually-impaired women and their founder, Akash Bhardwaj. This unique travel agency located in Delhi hires only visually-impaired women or acid attack survivors. Here's an insight to the working of "Khaas" travel agency you should explore!
While talking about the idea that struck Akash to establish Khaas, he told us about the moment that led to its inception, “I was in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar area during the Diwali celebrations of 2015 when I came across a lady selling balloons. She had acid scars on her face. When I asked her what had happened, she said a boy in her neighbourhood threw acid on her face and her husband abandoned her after that. She had two kids and was working alone to look after them. She used to work as the security in-charge in a mall before the attack, but no one was willing to give her a job after the incident. ‘Everyone talks about the importance of face value,’ she told me in proper English. So I decided to help people like her by providing them better employment opportunities,” says 32-year-old Akash Bhardwaj.
The company owned by him organises domestic and international tours for its clients which include corporate organisations, schools and colleges, other than industrial tours, family trips, adventure camps, etc. The women are also allowed to join people on the trip if they want.
The team of employees includes five visually impaired girls and all the work is handled by them efficiently. The team does all the work, right from making the appointments with the clients and helping with the presentations of various locations till closing the deals and even accompanying the groups on the trips if required. The team is absolutely dedicated to working for the betterment of the organization.
Akash had spent two months training his team of supergirls and now they're all set to work. The employees of Khaas operate their PCs with the help of the JAWS (Job Access With Speech) programme that helps visually impaired people read the screen with text-to-speech output. They are also adept at using smartphones with the help of the same programme.
The environment, as well as work culture of the travel agency which is located in Delhi, is also absolutely wonderful. The employees enjoy working at the office. “They are not looking for sympathy – they just want to crack the deals based on their hard work,” says Akash. Currently, Akash is looking for hiring his next batch of employees. This time, he is looking for hiring acid attack survivors. While some will come to the office while others with mobility issues will be able to work from home.
We salute to this initiative by the founder of Khaas and wish the team great luck and fortune in the years to come. *Proud*
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