Jammu hotel employees seek Valley sops

Their employers having failed, employees in hotels and lodges in Jammu have taken up with the government the issue of extending incentives available in the Kashmir Valley to Jammu as well. Despite hard efforts, the hotel owners failed to secure such concessions from the government.

Employees in hotels, handicraft showrooms, shops, dhabas and others in the tourism business have constituted the Jammu Tourist Trades Employees Federation for the purpose. The federation, immediately after its formation, has demanded an endorsement of relief packages and incentives on the lines of those available Kashmir, in one month. If this failed, the federation would launch an agitation.

Federation President Mahesh Padha said: "There are about 30,000 big and small hotels, restaurants, lodges, bars, and eateries in the Jammu region, besides another 30,000 establishments dealing in handicrafts and dry fruits, providing employment to nearly 500,000 people. But due to terrorism, their business has suffered considerably."

He said, "The ultimate losers have been the employees in these business houses and around 500 workers in different hotels alone have lost their jobs due to closure or low occupancy."

The Union and state governments have announced several packages of incentives to the tourism-related businesses in Kashmir, but Jammu region has been ignored, he says, adding, "to gather employees of all levels under one umbrella to fight for their rights, the federation has been formed. Besides this, the government will be forced to provide relief package to employees who have lost jobs due to closure and low occupancy in hotels."

Padha said the government should formulate a scheme to recruit tourist guides and helpers for the Jammu region. As in Kashmir, the government should rope in unemployed young people for this purpose.

Meanwhile, a six-member committee of the newly formed Federation is now in place. The committee, besides Padha as president, includes K K Malhotra as general secretary, Karan Sharma as vice-president, Pawan Sharma as office secretary, and Sunil Kachroo as organising secretary.