Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the State government is in the final stage of formulating guidelines for the reopening of hotels, restaurants and lodges. The CM along with Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Sunday held a virtual meeting with office bearers of hoteliers’ associations.
“We need to take extreme precaution before reopening hotels and lodges. We understand that hotels are extremely important for tourism industry. The hotel management will have to take extreme precaution and every person coming to hotels and lodges will have to be checked as one positive patient may result in spread of the disease,” Mr. Thackeray said.
He said the State government has no objection to reopening hotels. “However, certain guidelines will have to be adhered to. We are preparing such guidelines for hotels, restaurants and lodges which will be released soon, after which the establishments can be opened,” he said. The CM urged the hotel industry to refrain from laying off employees.
Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar said the government cannot allow to open all hotels at once, but will be giving permissions in a phase-wise manner. “The government expects self-discipline from the hotels as it won’t be possible to ensure checks at every step,” he said.
Gurbaxish Singh Kohli of Indian Hotel Association said the government must look at the hotel industry as an important player in the fight against the novel coronavirus. “We are doing our best to keep employees with us despite facing problems. Almost 80% of employees in our industry are migrant workers. We request to give permission to reopen hotels at the earliest,” he said, adding that the time limit to keep hotels open should also be increased.
