SRINAGAR: Following easing of Covid restrictions, the Restaurant and Cafe Association of Kashmir (RAK) has urged authorities to allow reopening of restaurants .
In this regard, a meeting of the executive body of the RAK, headed by its president Sheikh Feroz, was organised on Friday to discuss this matter.
Besides other members, Babar Chaudhry Vice President and Sheikh Imran Secretary General of the body were also present in the meeting.
After assessing the situation in terms of Covid lockdowns and now opening up of the markets, executive members of RAK said that like other businesses restaurants also have been closed in the Valley since the outbreak of pandemic early last year, and the restaurant owners have been subjected to huge losses due to the continuous lock down of about 18 months.
They also said that the restaurants that had been established just a few months or a year or so before the pandemic hit the world are the worst sufferers. Most of these new ventures had been started by the youngsters to earn their bread and butter. Most of these restaurants have been completely closed as the owners could not sustain the losses of their businesses.
While the well-established restaurants too did lay off most of their staff as they found it difficult to manage staff salaries.
RAK said that to ensure restaurant owners start revival of their businesses, administration should allow reopening of the restaurants like other businesses have been allowed to open. They said the locals and the tourists from outside also face difficulties because of the closures of the restaurants here.
While appealing to the administration to permit the re-opening of restaurants, RAK assured that all the precautions and SOPs would be followed strictly to ensure safety.

KR Desk