The bar industry is up in arms over the summary closure of Global Tapas bar in Juhu and action against Sai Prasad bar, Malad (W) following the accident in Worli last Sunday. The industry is also upset over action taken against bars in Thane recently.
In a strongly-worded statement, president of the Indian Hotel & Restaurants Association Sukesh Shetty said "the action taken against restaurants in the last few weeks in Maharashtra is a knee jerk reaction against the restaurant industry due to the hit and run accidents by few wealthy youngsters."
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"A few bureaucrats to protect themselves for their misdeeds have been creating scapegoats for which the restaurant owners are soft targets ," he alleged.
Shetty observed that "it is a sad state of affairs that Instead of digging deep into the root cause of the issue and finding solutions to the problems an attempt is being made at present to divert attention from the scene of the accident and perpetrators of the crime to minor violations in restaurants, which has no bearing on the occurrence of accidents."
The core issues of the Industry have been ignored which the Restaurant owners are facing on a day to day basis, due to outdated state excise laws which encourages corruption in the state administration, he stated.
"We sincerely feel the government should interact with the industry and the young generation on a regular basis to collectively bring about a transformation and create awareness about the ills affecting our society at large, " Shetty suggested.
Another bar owner said the industry is generating crores of rupees by way of revenue and yet it is being given step motherly treatment. He said several permissions have to be taken before starting a bar which is a legitimate business activity. Yet the industry is being viewed with suspicion.
