2 weeks ago
Calcutta University Canteen Creates Dignified Jobs for Disabled Young Adults
A canteen at Calcutta University was empty for several years.
Now it will become a cafe called Rakhalda’s Cafable.
Young adults with autism, Down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities will work there.
Four people will serve customers at the cafe.
Six others will prepare food in a kitchen at Chingrighata.
The Able Fable Foundation trained them for almost three years.
A chef taught them how to bake and prepare food carefully.
The cafe will sell items such as apple pie, garlic bread, quiches, and muffins.
The organizers say the workers will be treated as employees and paid for their work.
Calcutta University will open Rakhalda’s Cafable in a formerly abandoned 650-square-foot campus canteen.
The cafe will employ four young adults with autism, Down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities.
Six additional trainees will work in the cafe’s back-end kitchen at Chingrighata.
The Able Fable Foundation trained the group for nearly three years, including two and a half years of training and a six-month internship.
The venture will make its baked goods in-house and pay workers according to food quality and professionalism.
- Who
- The Able Fable Foundation, Calcutta University, chef Susanta Biswas, and young adults with autism, Down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities.
- What
- An abandoned university canteen will reopen as Rakhalda’s Cafable, an inclusive cafe employing trained young adults with disabilities.
- Where
- The cafe will operate on Calcutta University’s College Street campus, with a back-end kitchen at Chingrighata.
- When
- The cafe is scheduled to be inaugurated on Thursday, after nearly three years of training.
- Why
- The initiative aims to provide gainful employment and dignified rehabilitation for individuals with disabilities.
Key facts
- Cafe name
- Rakhalda’s Cafable
- Institution
- Calcutta University
- Cafe size
- 650 square feet
- Cafe employees
- Four young adults will work at the campus cafe
- Kitchen employees
- Six young adults will work in the back-end kitchen at Chingrighata
- Training period
- Two and a half years of training followed by six months of internship
- Menu
- Apple pie, cheese chilli toast, garlic bread, quiches, puffs, muffins, and other items
Quotes
Arunasis Adhikari
Member of the Able Fable Foundation
“"My wife would always ask me: while I do research and science takes its own time, what am I doing for the individuals who are giving me their blood and tissue samples? So I approached the organisation and submitted a proposal, first to Shanta Dutta, the then officiating vice‑chancellor, and later to Ashutosh Ghosh, the present vice‑chancellor."”
telegraphindia.com
“"Those who are more proficient in communication will be placed at the cafe. Some food items will be partially prepared beforehand and finished on campus. But all our products, including the breads, will be made in-house. We will not procure anything from other bakeries or vendors for sale here,"”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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