Nukkad: Indian Café Chain Engaging the Marginalised

Sonali Bhattacharya; Sanjay Bhattacharya

Nukkad: Indian Café Chain Engaging the
Marginalised

Sonali Bhattacharya and Sanjay Bhattacharya

Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development,
Symbiosis International (Deemed) University, India

Volume 13: 2020, pp. 49-60; ABSTRACT

Nukkad, a café chain started by Priyank Patel, an engineer and IT professional, employs marginalised persons and physically and mentally challenged people in India and engages them with “Hope, Trust and Happiness”. The café chain has four outlets in Raipur and Bhilai in the Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The first two outlets employ persons with hearing and speaking challenges, the third in Bhilai, employs transgender persons and those with hearing disabilities. The fourth outlet, and the biggest so far, has extended employment to include people with Down syndrome. The start up journey was not without challenges. Interaction with transgender communities is discouraged in Indian society, and Priyank faced resistance from his family and the community for having hired them. The second challenge was how to source employees from the various marginalised sections and win their trust to expand his business. Should Patel scale up the café chain? What will be the challenges of opening more outlets?