BHUBANESWAR: Hit hard by the restrictions imposed across the State in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, catering service and tent house owners have urged the government to increase the number of guests allowed for weddings and other social functions to at least 300.
The catering service and tent house owners in the Capital said that the pandemic has dealt a blow to their businesses they have incurred losses in crores in the last two years. "The losses sustained by the caterers and tent house owners in Bhubaneswar zone, comprising the State Capital, Khurda and Jatni, alone are around Rs 70 crore in the last one year. Imagine the amount of losses the sector would have incurred across the State," said Biswa Prakash Bhadra, owner of Grand Caterer and Tent House in the city.
The losses are also affecting the State exchequer as the government gets huge amount in taxes from the industry, he said. Bhadra said the restrictions have left around 30 lakh persons, dependent on the sector directly or indirectly, in a lurch.
Binay Bhusan Patnaik of Sristi Catering said the restriction on social gatherings imposed by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come as a double-whammy for them as it is half of what the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) had permitted in his January guidelines.
"While the cap on maximum gathering for a wedding had been fixed at 100 in the State this month, it remained 50 within BMC jurisdiction leaving us in a lurch," he said.
Patnaik said the businesses of caterers and tent houses had started picking up slowly, after the restrictions were eased and the ceiling on gathering restored to around 250 during November and December. However, things started to worsen as the new guidelines came into force. "With the crowd restricted to 50, most of the weddings have been cancelled and the majority of caterers and tent houses are sitting idle for the last one month," he said.
Owner of Rupa Tent House in the city Satyajit Mohanty also expressed serious concerns over the crowd limit fixed by the government and BMC for social functions. Mohanty said the workers engaged with the sector are the worst sufferers.
Most of them have lost their livelihood and are finding it difficult to make ends meet, he said urging the State government to intervene and assuage their woes.