SHIMLA, 20.11.24-Citing reasons for the closure of 18 HPTDC hotels in the State in recent orders by the Court, Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania and MLA Ajay Solanki said the judgement was the result of reckless spending of the BJP government. However, the present government will make sure that skeletal staff which was necessary for the upkeep of the property will be retained in the premises of the properties for maintenance and upkeep and the excess staff to be transferred in other Tourism hotels in the State.

As far as the hotels having occupancy below 40 percent, the profit and loss can't be judged merely in terms of occupancy as there are other many factors to be counted which also include income from Restaurants, online advance bookings of HPTDC units for marriage and other functions etc, they remarked.

They blamed the previous BJP Government for their failure to maintain and upkeep the properties of the Tourism Corporation and their leaders and workers made blatant misuse of the tourism hotels and it was during their tenure that the debt mounted, pushing the HPTDC in loss. The BJP Government didn’t even bother to do minor renovations of tourism hotels. Even the retired employees during their tenure were not paid their dues and hundreds were not getting their pensions after retirement making it hard for them to meet both ends.

It is very unfortunate to reveal that during the BJP regime in the year 2019-20, the HPTDC suffered a Cumulative loss of Rs 4900.68 lakhs, which in the year 2020-21 further escalated to Rs. 4996.53 and in 2020-21 it mounted to Rs. 5198 lakhs. They reminded the BJP that after coming to power due to the efforts of the present state government the HPTDC was coming out of the losses and was gaining profits despite the disaster of the decade the state suffered. They said that as compared to year 2023 the revenue of tourism which includes catering cum, gate income has increased.

Their extravagant spending and debt kept on increasing and bills of the corporation which went in crores were left unpaid. The hefty payments kept mounting due to which it became difficult for the HPTDC to run their hotels and pay the rightful dues of their employees.

They said that the government has committed to make Himachal a favourable tourist destination and has announced to make Kangra the Tourism capital of the State. It was unfortunate the HPTDC hotels in Kangra district were in the list to be closed.

The government also initiated water sports activities in Pong and Govind Sagar lake, has started the process of setting up a Zoo of International standard at Dehra and introduced Shikara facility for tourists in the State reservoirs. However, the decision of the court came at a time when the State was slowly limping back to financial stability. Around Rs. 2600 crore has been generated as additional revenue within 23 months by the present state government from the existing resources of the State, they said.

They advised the BJP leaders to now stand together to protect the properties of the State and speak in the interest of the State rather than to flare up the issue.