New Delhi. The National Association of Restaurants Association of India (NRAI), the national organization of restaurant units, has expressed deep disappointment over the decision to ban the service of serving food on the table in Delhi under the restrictions related to Covid-19, saying that the restaurants already affected during the pandemic. It will become very difficult to run the business now. The organization fears that this will bring livelihood to more than three lakh people working in this sector in the capital.
NRI President Kabir Suri said in a statement on the decision of the Delhi government on Monday, “The restaurant business has been one of the most affected areas since the beginning of Covid-19. The restaurant business was the last to open even after the first and second wave of the epidemic had cooled down.
He said, “I think the third wave will be more than that and in this it will be difficult for us to save ourselves in the guidelines issued by the Delhi government.”
In order to control the new wave of Omicron, the Delhi government has directed the closure of hotels, restaurants and bars and keeping only ‘takeaway’ (packed food) facility from there. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal which was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Health Minister and other officials.
Suri said that Delhi-NCR is the restaurant capital in India. There are 95,187 restaurants in Delhi, of which 32,777 are in the organized sector with the numbers of food regulators FSSAI and GST. The decision of the Delhi government will also have an impact on the business of the unorganized sector.
“We are concerned about 3,01,715 people working in restaurants in Delhi. We do not want them to suffer but unfortunately now we do not have enough resources to help them.
Last year, a quarter of restaurants across the country were closed during Covid-19 and 24 lakh people were unemployed, the statement said.