This Pune Woman Runs A Restaurant That Hires Specially-Abled Staff Members

Pune restaurant with specially-abled staff: A new restaurant in Pune is in news for employing specially-abled staff members. Run by Sonam Kapse, the restaurant is said to be the first of its kind in the city. The employees at this eatery converse with the customers through sign-language and their entire menu has sign-language codes written on it.

Talking about the restaurant and dealing with employees who are special-needs adults, owner Kapse said, "This is a socially conscious dining initiative, We have 20 hearing and speech impaired candidates working here," ANI reported.

Maharashtra: A restaurant in Pune has specially-abled staff who cater to customers. "There's a similar restaurant in Mumbai. The initiative should be encouraged," said a customer (in Pic 3)

"We've sign language menu for customers to place order," said Restaurant owner (in Pic 4) pic.twitter.com/UhYYzHSzrz

— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2021

She further added that there are many such restaurants and cafes that do well in Mumbai so this initialive, first in Pune, should be "encouraged".

"This initiative gives a platform for them to earn for themselves and aims to take hearing and visually impaired people to the fore and make them feel equal because usually they are always offered a job where they work to the back end and never offered a front line job. Usually, such people are employed for kitchen work," she further revealed.

Speaking on how the restaurant overcomes the communication barrier between employees and customers, Kapse said, "We have a sign language menu where customers can place an order with employees by showing them a sign for food they wish to order. Communication is very easy, just like we are talking to kids using signs."

Dileep, a customer told ANI," The ambience and concept are very good. It is a new experience to communicate in such a manner and it was lovely. This concept is already there in Mumbai, in Pune, I think this restaurant is the first for such an initiative. The taste of the food is also very good. The initiative is very good and should be encouraged."

Feature Image Credit: ANI