New Delhi, March 21
The government today informed the House that a show-cause notice had been issued to the Park Plaza hotel in Ludhiana which was reportedly involved in the privacy violation case of a young couple.
Union Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury said stringent action, including blacklisting, would be meted out to those hotels, which do not protect the privacy of its guest.
Raising the issue during Question Hour, BJP MP Avinash Rai Khanna asked the government whether any action had been taken against the hotel authorities following reports that an attempt was made to videofilm a newly married couple in a five-star hotel in Ludhiana.
Ms Chowdhury informed the House that “a show-cause notice has been issued to that hotel... no such activity will be tolerated. Stringent action will be taken against such activity...hotels will also be blacklisted.”
Stating that the business of hotels did not come under the purview of the Centre, she said, “further lapses will result in the blacklisting.”
Ms Chowdhury said it was the responsibility of hotels to ensure privacy of its guests.
Shiromani Akali Dal member Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged that the hotel was owned by those close to Punjab Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh and action must be taken against them.
The minister said, “action will be taken against your hotel also if it violates the privacy of guests.”
The hotel is owned by Mr J. Khangura, a Congress leader whose wife had unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly elections from Kila Raipur in this district.
Bridegroom Harpreet Singh was injured in the incident when he grappled with those who had positioned themselves to film intimate moments in the hotel room.
Meanwhile, the minister replied in the negative when asked whether the
government was considering any proposal to accord tourism the status of the basic industry.
There had been an increase of about 23.5 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals in the country, which had risen to 3.37 million in 2004 from 2.73 million the previous year, she added.
