SORRY, WE ARE LOCKED DOWN
The ongoing strike by employees of the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) has completely paralysed the state-run corporation's hotels across the state.
Hotel Kautilya Vihar, the corporation's property on Beer Chand Patel Marg in Patna, does not have a single guest in any of its 26 rooms. The situation is similar in the nine other hotels the corporation runs in Sonepur, Vaishali, Bodhgaya, Muzaffarpur, Sasaram, Mohania, Purnea, Singheswar Asthan (Madhepura) and Valmikinagar.
The employees' strike, which entered its sixth day on Tuesday, has caused losses of around Rs 60 lakh to the corporation, of which the hotel sector alone accounts for losses of around Rs 12 lakh.
The corporation was established in 1980 for development of tourism in the state and for commercialisation of tourist resources. It has set up tourist bungalows, cafeterias, restaurants, transportation facilities and ropeways at tourist spots over the years.
Apart from the hotels, the strike paralysed other services the corporation offers across the state, including buses and taxis, the floating restaurant on the Ganga in Patna, laser show at Golghar, ropeway in Rajgir, sound, light and laser show at Maya Sarovar in Bodhgaya, wildlife package at Valmiki tiger reserve in Bettiah and tour packages to places such as Vaishali, Pawapuri, Bodhgaya, Nalanda and Rajgir.
When The Telegraph visited Hotel Kautilya Vihar on Tuesday, the reception counter was deserted.
On asking around, a hotel employee, who refused to give his identify, said: "The strike has adversely affected the hotel operations. All the rooms in this hotel are currently vacant, as fresh bookings are not being accepted because of the ongoing strike."
On a normal day, the occupancy rate of the hotel used to be around 60 per cent, the employee said.
Ajay Kumar, spokesperson of the hotel employees' association, said: "We decided to go on strike from December 15 since we did not wish to disturb weddings scheduled here till the 14th. So since our strike began, not a single guest has checked in, as our association provides all the services in this hotel - cleaning, sanitation, serving of food and taking care of guests."
A tourism department official said tourism in Bihar peaks between December 15 and January 15. "However, the strike has crippled all facilities the corporation offers," the official added.
Tour packages the corporation offers include Patna-Vaishali-Patna, Patna-Bodhgaya-Patna, Patna-Pawapuri-Nalanda-Rajgir-Patna, and Patna Darshan.
Like Hotel Kautilya Vihar, the floating restaurant on the Ganga, MV Ganga Vihar, where corporation employees sell tickets and cater to customers, is also shut for the past six days.
Paritosh Kumar, who came to the restaurant with his family from Mahendru on Tuesday, said: "We decided to come today to celebrate the yearend. However, on getting here, we found it shut because of the strike. Both my money and time have been wasted. There is not even a single person who can tell me when the strike will end."
A few other unions came out in support of the agitating corporation employees on Tuesday. The vendors' union of Nalanda said if the government did not accept the demands of the employees, they would be forced to block the road leading to the Rajgir ropeway from December 26. Similarly, the tonga association of Rajgir also lent unconditional support to the strike.
The BSTDC employees' association, affiliated to the Indian National Trade Union Congress, is demanding equal pay for equal work, regularisation of services of contract workers, revision of salaries, freeze on recruitment of employees from outside and an end to privatisation of hotels.
This is the association's fourth strike in one-and-a-half years. In 2015, it went on strike from May 19 to May 26 and August 5 to September 4, and this year from July 4 to July 11.
