Manmohan Singh resigns as president of Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh

Even as the first Chandigarh Crafts Mela at Kalagram is proving to be a huge hit among residents, surprisingly a majority of the local hotels and restaurants are not part of the mega tourism event.

The invite is limited only to Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) hotels, and a handful of other restaurants.

These include Metro 43, Metro 35, Khyber Restaurant, Western Court (Chandigarh and Panchkula), Sundarams, Maya Palace, Aroma, Purple Rice and Chopsticks 2, where special food festivals are being held to mark the event. Other hotels and restaurants in the city are completely out of the loop, courtesy what their owners call a “defunct” Hotel and Restaurant Association of Chandigarh. Meanwhile, in an interesting development on Thursday, association president Manmohan Singh submitted his resignation.

For the record, the Home Secretary had called a couple of meetings with representatives of the hotel association to seek their participation in the event and ensure its success.

During the meeting, the association had promised its full support.

Members of the association allege that later, no concrete steps were taken to ensure suitable participation of the hotels in the crafts mela.

“While president of the association Manmohan Singh sent out a couple of mails on the issue, no meetings were called to discuss specific steps for the event,” said a member.

Manmohan said: “I had invited the owners of all such premises to come forward and be part of the event. It is a totally voluntary effort, and if somebody does not want to do so, we cannot force him.”

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