Permit home delivery of food till 10 pm: GCCI writes to PM Modi

The GCCI in the letter also wrote that the online food delivery in the evenings will also help families where all the members have got Covid infected.

Pointing to the crisis faced by the food and hospitality industry in Gujarat due to the 8 pm to 6 am curfew, the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “permit home deliveries” till 10 pm.

In the letter, GCCI president Natubhai Patel pointed out that more than 35000 hotels, restaurants, cafes, and small food joints operate in Gujarat and employ 10-12 lakh skilled and unskilled workers directly. “The food and hospitality industry is facing a crisis situation for more than a year. Many of the small entrepreneurs were not able to survive and so have closed their business. It is highly important that this industry gets reasonable hand holding to balance the economics and sustain its existence, failing which the owners and entrepreneurs will get bankrupt and the employees will be rendered jobless,” Patel stated in his letter dated April 14.

As a solution, GCCI has requested permission for “home deliveries” for food items till 10 pm which extends well into the curfew period. “This will help the hospitality industry to survive and no major government relief may be required,” Patel stated adding that the source of income for the delivery boys will also remain unaffected by this move.

The Indian Express has already reported how the extension in curfew timings in 20 cities of the state made by the Gujarat government on April 7 will adversely affect the “evening business hours” and will force smaller players to shut shop. The representatives of the Hotels and Restaurants’ Association had said that their pleas and representations for some relief were being ignored by the state government due to the huge spike in Covid cases across major cities of the state.

The GCCI in the letter also wrote that the online food delivery in the evenings will also help families where all the members have got Covid infected.

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