Aditya Thackeray wants govt to allow 24x7 eateries in city

MUMBAI: Pitching hard for the proposal to keep eateries and chemist shops open 24x7, Yuva Sena president Aditya Thackeray appealed to the labour and home departments of the state government to speed up the requisite approvals for its execution.

“The implementation of the proposal is in the interest of the city and its youth. It requires certain amendments to the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act and the Bombay Police Act. The Nationalist Congress Party has been open to the proposal. We expect the Congress to clear it and act for the city’s good,” said Thackeray, addressing a press conference at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) headquarters on Thursday.

A resolution to the effect was recently approved by the Shiv SENA-BJP ruled civic general body.

“For now, the plan focuses on keeping eateries and chemist shops open throughout the night. But it can be extended to grocery shops and stores selling other essential goods later,” Thackeray said.

He said the proposal comes with riders — that workers would be employed in two shifts and NOC would be obtained from housing societies if a food joint is in a residential area.

However, the state govern ment has not received any such proposal from the BMC.

After the 26/11 terror attacks the home department had restricted the deadline of shops in the night.

“We will consult the law and judiciary department and home department if we receive any proposal for 24-hour shops in south Mumbai,” said state labour minister Hasan Mushrif.

He, however, added that his ministry was positive about extending the deadlines of shops in Mumbai. “The decision to extend timings of shops till 2am was taken recently and is receiving very good response,” said Mushrif.