Tribune News Service Amritsar November 30 The Tourism Department has asked the Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHARA) to prepare a detailed plan to receive relief package. The AHARA had shot off a communique to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for issuing a relief package for the tourism sector which had been going through financial crisis due to the lockdown imposed in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. APS Chatha chief Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association said their problems did not end even after relaxations. He said majority of tourists arrive through trains and trains remained halted in the state for almost two months. Thus guides and taxi operators had been sitting idle since March he said. The AHARAs letter seeking special economic package to bail out the hospitality sector from financial crunch elicits positive response from the government. Before the imposition of the lockdown local tourism industry had suffered from low room occupancy in February following the scare of the pandemic. Even after relaxations sector did not recover as people were wary of travelling thus leading to closure of numerous hotels and job loss. The AHARA demanded minimum one-year moratorium on all working capital principal interests loans and overdrafts besides soft loan at a concessional rate for up to two years. It would enable hotels to collect the GST and SGST and use the same as working capital for the next one year. Waiver on fixed charges on electricity bills statutory licence fee relating to the industry for the period of one year automatic extension of all licences for a period of six months and allowing banks to restructure loans.

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