The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Hotel owners’ assurance to government

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Sunday, May 18, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Hotel owners’ assurance to government

Special Correspondent

Government has appealed to them to lower the prices of food items

— Photo: M. Vedhan

seeking assurance: E.V. Velu, Food Minister with hotel owners at a meeting at the Secretariat in Chennai on Saturday.

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Minister for Food, E.V. Velu, who held a meeting with over 50 hotel owners at the Secretariat on Saturday, said the hotel owners had given an assurance that they would positively respond in a week to the government’s request to lower prices of food items.

Later briefing reporters here the Minister said the meeting was convened as a follow up to the Chief Minister’s direction that steps had to be taken to bring down the prices of essential commodities, including cooking oil, rice and pulses.

Mr. Velu said the meeting with hotel owners became necessary following complaints from the public that hotels were charging high prices for food items served through their outlets.

Pointing out that idli, vadai, dosai, pongal and poori and afternoon meals were being consumed by daily wage workers, the Minister said after receiving the lowered price list from the hotel owners, the government would chalk out the next course of action. The government was also concerned about differential prices charged by hotels for food items in different towns and places within the State.

State Food Secretary K. Shanmugham, Commissioner of Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection K. Rajaram, and president of Tamil Nadu Hotel Owners Association Mr. Ravi and other office-bearers of the association took part in the meeting.

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