Banquet and tent house owners want Delhi govt to allow weddings, functions
Members say the weddings and banquets industry has suffered a lot of losses owing to the restrictions imposed to control the pandemic in April.
Banquet, hotel and tent house associations on Thursday said they have written to the Delhi government requesting that weddings and social functions be allowed in the city, as a majority of other businesses have been allowed to reopen.
Ramesh Dang, president of Community Welfare Banquet Association Delhi, said, “A majority of sectors have been allowed to resume business. We were hoping that social gatherings would be allowed too, but that did not happen. We have requested chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to allow social functions, as our industry has been badly hit by the pandemic.”
The Delhi government banned social functions and weddings when the lockdown was announced in April to curb the spread of the second and most deadly wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
“As the government is making efforts to ensure that the economy regains normalcy, it is requested that banquets and hotels also be opened along with the opening of other sectors such as markets, factories etc. at the earliest,” the association wrote to the chief minister.
Members say the weddings and banquets industry has suffered a lot of losses owing to the restrictions imposed to control the pandemic in April.
Industry members said the auspicious period (sayas) for weddings will end by July 20, post which they would not have much business till October.
Pankaj Shokeen, secretary of Delhi Tent house association, said, “We had asked our workers to return, as we thought that businesses would resume as Covid cases are on the ebb. If functions are not allowed now, we will have no business till October. We just have a month more of the wedding season left.”
Dang further said, “We assure the government that we will follow all Covid protocols and ensure social distancing if we are allowed to hold functions.”
Delhi government spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.