Mumbai, April 12: The two-week-old closure order on dance bars in Maharashtra will be extended to Mumbai, the state government decided today.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting, government sources said. Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is likely to make a statement on the issue.

The ban was imposed on March 31, when deputy chief minister R.R. Patil described dance bars as a serious corrupting influence on Maharashtra?s youth.

He had appointed a high-level committee, led by an additional chief secretary, to probe the norms governing Mumbai?s bars and make recommendations within three months.

So, today?s decision came as a surprise to the bar industry, whose representatives approached the National Commission for Women and the human rights panel demanding rehabilitation of dance bar girls.

A delegation from the Bar Girls? Union, led by president Varsha Kale, today met members of the women?s panel and demanded rehabilitation of 25,000 jobless bar girls to stop them from entering prostitution.

?We have heard that the Maharashtra government has extended the ban to Mumbai?s dance bars as well,? union secretary Ravi Deshpande said on the phone from Delhi.

?This will result in over 75,000 bar girls losing their employment, and affect the livelihood of over 400,000 male workers employed in these bars. The NCW has agreed to send a team to Mumbai to look into the problem,? he added.

The union delegation, Deshpande said, also approached the National Human Rights Commission with a similar plea.

Mumbai?s bar owners had initially opposed the closure order and announced an indefinite strike in protest. They called it off after most of them felt that antagonising the government would affect their business.