UP hotels for Labour Dept.
To push hospitality industry into the mainstream of government agendas, a 60th category needs to be created to take care of the concerns of the hotel sector.
Members of the UP Hotel Association have submitted a proposal to the Lucknow Labour Department for approval after the meeting
In a recent meeting last week, key stakeholders of the Uttar Pradesh hospitality industry met with senior officials of the UP Labour Department in Kanpur, demanding a separate category for hotels within the department. This was revealed by Vijai Pande, VicePresident, UP Hotel & Restaurant Association and Honorary Secretary, FHRAI.
Talking about the recent development, Pande said there are 59 categories within the UP Labour Department. “In an effort to push hospitality industry to the mainstream of government agendas, we have proposed that a 60th category needs to be created to take care of the concerns of the hotel sector. The members of the UP Hotel Association have submitted a proposal to the Lucknow Labour Department for approval after the meeting. We are expecting to get a feedback after a week or so,” he added. The meeting was attended by over 20 members, including commissioner and additional commissioner of UP Labour Department, two other members from UP Labour Department and members of the state labour union.
Regarding the affairs of the industry in the state, Pandit lamented, “UP receives so many tourists. Who would give the Taj Mahal in Agra a miss? However, the hotel industry has not been able to cash in on the footfalls due to dearth of synergy between the hotels, infrastructure and rigid government rules. Our industry is service- oriented and thus, until the manpower is kept happy, the state of affairs cannot improve.” This has thus, been a long pending move. If this proposal is approved, the industry will be in a position to facilitate better wages for the employees. “We believe that if it goes through as desired, it will benefit the industry and government as a whole,” he pointed out.