Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 18: Praytan Vikas Mandal (PVM)- a conglomerate of 22 tourist trade organizations, has demanded a special package for starving tourism industry of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a meeting of PVM held today through video conferencing, its chairman Inderjeet Khajuria expressed his serious concern over the plight of all the stakeholders dependent on tourism, saying that they have been badly hit by COVID-19 pandemic coupled with lockdown and further left in the lurch by even the Government by depriving them from any relief package.
PVM president Rajesh Gupta expressed shock over ignoring the tourism sector completely by the Government in its relief package of Rs 20 lakh crore while Kuldeep Wahi (ex-president of the Mandal) asserted that after lifting of lockdown, Government should immediately experiment with single member occupancy of rooms with 33 percent of total hotel occupancy by strictly adhering to guidelines issued by Ministry of Home Affairs.
Pawan Gupta (president, All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association) said that tourism sector is completely shocked and dismayed after the announcement of no relief package in their favour. He further appealed the Government to save the starving hotel industry by giving special package on the same lines as given in the year 2003, by then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Highlighting the poor condition of restaurant owners, Ashaq Hussain, president of United Hotels and Restaurants Association, said that the Government should allow restaurants of Jammu province to start home delivery of foods as permitted in various parts of the country.
Pritam Sharma, a member of Mandal, requested the Government to waive off electricity, water, internet, municipal charges of all the traders connected with tourism because of their nil business at present and in the coming months.
M L Sharma, a senior member of the Mandal, urged the Government to give special package of soft loans to all tourism stakeholders such as hoteliers and tour & taxi operators enabling them to feed their families otherwise they would vanish from the tourism map.
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