Nagpur: Following the call of United Hospitality Forum of Maharashtra (UHF), the Nagpur hotels and restaurants industry on Thursday organized a silent protest against the Maharashtra Government’s decision to shut down businesses under the new guidelines issued to curb Covid-19 cases under the Break the Chain order. The staff of all the hotels and restaurants across the city was seen carrying banners right in front of their establishment to mark the protest.
“The fight against the pandemic is turning out to be far more hard-hitting than the pandemic itself,” laments Saheb Singh Arora, of Hotel Airport Centre Point speaking to Nagpur Today.
“Following the prolonged lockdown period that has already deter hospitality business, we were already grappling to cope with the expenses. While the New Year brought something to cheer about and we just started pulling us together, the State Government has imposed fresh pairs of restrictions under the Break the Chain order,”
According to the Break the Chain order, restaurants are to be totally shut except for take-away, parcels and food delivery services between 7 am and 8 pm on weekdays and on weekends, only food deliveries will be allowed.
With this decision, the State Government has put the last nail in the coffin. The industry which generates employment and is source of income to lakhs, cannot survive this time as we cannot pay staff salaries, licence fees, meet operational expenses etc with mere home delivery and takeaways,” said Saheb Singh Arora and suggested that, “The State Government should find some ways to provide relief to industries instead of imposing restrictions on businesses.
Unburdening the owners of the property tax, waiving off the statutory fees, stopping generating electricity and water bills until the industry becomes completely operational again would be a start in a bid to do justice to the owners, staff and their families involved in hospitality business,” he said.
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– Shubham Nagdeve
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