The hospitality industry in Chandigarh has virtually crashed resulting in huge job retrenchments and financial losses. Most of the food and beverage outlets in the city are temporarily closed and if some relief package is not extended, they might permanently shut shop,” said Ankit Gupta, president of Chandigarh Hospitality Association and joint secretary of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India. We had also written to UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore requesting some relief package for the industry Mr. Gupta added.
Their demands in the relief package were waiver of ground rent and the property tax for the financial year 2021-22, deferment of electricity charges along with a request for industrial tariff, exemption of VAT and assessment fee, tourism survival package, and creation of a Covid relief fund (through ESI) for payment of salaries.
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Expressing similar views, Manmohan Singh, president, Hotels Association, Chandigarh, said: “The hospitality industry is on the brink of collapse and much more than the promoters, it’s our workmen who are going to face total joblessness and scarcity of resources because service industry does not only comprise of the promoters but largely of workmen. The ratio of workmen in the service industry is the highest for the performance of the business.”
Another hotelier said the Administration should focus on vaccination instead of imposing a corona curfew, as it would sound the death knell to their business. They would not be able to bear the loss of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, as they were yet to recover from the previous lockdown, he added.
News Courtesy: TI
