As the Maharashtra government has announced further relaxation of opening up schools and religious places, the hotel and restaurant association (AHAR) have now demanded further extension in the timings and relaxation of the norm of only allowing fully vaccinated staff to work.
Talking on this issue, AHAR president Shivanand Shetty told Mumbai Live: “The industry has suffered a lot in the past 18 months and with hardly any support from the Government it has been really tough. The extension to 10 pm has been a slight compensation but now since the situation has been contained to a large extent, the need of the hour is to extend the operational hours to pre-pandemic times i.e. 1.30 am. It is a huge industry of the economy, with a significant contribution to the GDP and churning out employment opportunities, so the Government should restore the timing at the earliest.”
The state government has announced multiple relaxations in the coronavirus restrictions across the state. The new SOPs came into effect on August 15. While hotels and restaurants across the state were allowed to run only until 4 PM, the revised guidelines allow establishments to extend their timings until 10 PM.
Moreover, days after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government extended the dine-in timings for the restaurants, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal announced that restaurant staff should have taken at least the first vaccine shot before reporting to work. He also directed the management to ensure that no working employee can be zero vaccinated.
Also Read: Mumbai: BMC issues guidelines as schools to resume from Oct 4 - Check the full list of SOPs here
Share
Tweet
