Uttarakhand mulls privatising rest houses

Uttarakhand's move follows a study that showed they were in the red.

The Uttarakhand government is contemplating privatising loss-making motels and tourist rest houses belonging to the state-run Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam.

The move follows a study by the government that found these motels were unable to make profits despite being given all facilities.

Ever since the state of Uttarakhand came into being on November 9, 2000, the tourism department has failed to show improvement. Keeping in mind that tourism was the backbone of the state's economy, the government is now taking strict measures to improve the services of these rest houses.

"The only way to improve the services of these rest houses is to privatise them," a tourism department official said. The rest houses in areas like Natwar, Noti, Sankhari, Arakot, Yamkeshwar in Garhwal region are running at a loss, the official said.

The only hurdle in privatising the rest houses is the employees working there. The official said the government would give a handsome package as compensation to these employees once privatisation was complete.

Meanwhile, for the past two days, the employees of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam have been holding a protest demonstration against privatisation and are threatening to go on strike if the move is not withdrawn.

The previous Congress government had also considered privatisation. But it could not take a decision in view of the strong opposition from the employees of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam.

Although no official decision has been taken so far on the issue, the official said a proposal on this would be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting.