Shimla, Nov 23 (PTI) Days after several loss-making HPTDC hotels were ordered to be shut by the high court, its workers’ union on Saturday demanded the removal of RS Bali, the chairman of the corporation, and asked Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to take the matter into his own hands.
Addressing mediapersons here, the leaders of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) Karamchari Sangh alleged that there was a conspiracy to give the hotels of the corporation to private parties.
Citing poor occupancy, the Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered that HPTDC properties should be shut by November 25.
The Karamchari Sangh welcomed the high court’s decision to allow nine out of eighteen hotels to continue operations till March 2025.
President of the union, Hukum Ram said that only occupancy details were submitted in the court, and other details on other sources of income, such as destination weddings, parties, industry events, day visitors, shoots and others, were not provided. “We will file an appeal in the court and submit all the figures,” he added.
HPDTC chairman R S Bali should be removed, they said.
The workers’ union also urged that the other nine hotels should also be given an extension and demanded Rs 50 crore as a grant to support the corporation and tourism.
The high court had on Friday permitted the state’s tourism department to continue operating till March 2025, nine of the 18 loss-making properties that it had ordered to shut down recently.
The court gave the order on Tuesday to cease operations by November 25.
While allowing the nine properties to remain open on Friday, a single-judge bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel asserted that the court was not modifying its earlier order in totality, only permitting the corporation to run the nine properties till March 31, 2025.
The HPTDC had filed an application praying for a recall or modification of the November 19 order, saying that it is taking serious steps to ensure that its properties are put to maximum utilisation. PTI BPL SKY SKY
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