PremiumMUMBAI: The Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) has urged Maharashtra's chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to extend the easing of lockdown curbs--allowing shops and establishments to operate till late evening in 25 districts in the state, including Mumbai--to the eating-out industry as well.
AHAR president Shivanand Shetty said around 35 lakh people working with the restaurant industry have been laid off because of closure of eating joints.
"This has not only hit them financially, but their mental health also got affected badly because of which forced some to take drastic step of committing suicide," said Shetty, adding that 90-95% of the restaurant workforce have been vaccinated.
The Maharashtra government has said it was being cautious about relaxing restrictions and will discuss with the task force about the request from the restaurant industry on 10 August.
Malls in the state have also remained shut while restaurants are not allowed to function till late in the evening.
Early this week, Retailers Association of India (RAI) had written to the state government to allow malls to begin operations.
“All other states in the country except Maharashtra have allowed malls to open along with other formats of retail. Malls in Maharashtra have been continuously giving assurances about following the required SOPs and structured processes to ensure social distancing and safety of shoppers," Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI), had said.
Allowing malls to resume operations will pave the way for citizens to shop in a safe and sanitized environment and also save lakhs of livelihoods the mall ecosystem supports, he had added.
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