If charges found false, employee union to face action, says Bali

Nagrota Bagwan MLA Raghubir Singh Bali today criticised the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) Employees Union for making allegations against him that he had presented false data in court. He said that a committee would be constituted to look into the matter.

Bali, while addressing mediapersons, said that the members of the employees union would have to give in writing in an affidavit along with valid proof that the HPTDC had presented false figures in the court. “If the allegations made by them are found to be false, disciplinary action will be taken against those who made these,” he added.

Recently, at a press conference, the HPTDC Employees Union had accused Bali of misrepresenting figures in court and also trying to hand over corporation hotels to private players. It had also demanded Bali’s removal as the Chairman of the corporation. The union had urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to take charge of the Tourism Department.

In response to the allegations, Bali said that the court had asked for hotel occupancy figures which the corporation provided. “If the court asks us about hotel occupancy, we cannot tell them about the number of cafes and restaurants owned by the corporation. We can only provide what we have been asked for.”

He added that all the remaining dues such as gratuity, leave encashment etc of the retired employees would be paid to them within the stipulated time.

Bali said that HPTDC hotels would neither be leased nor be handed over to private players. “The corporation had never said this nor any advertisement for the same was ever issued. It was only a false narrative that was being highlighted in the media by BJP leaders such as Sudhir Sharma,” he claimed.

He said that to make the HPTDC hotels profitable, there was need to renovate them. He added that funds for the purpose would be sought from the state government or Asian Development Bank (ADB).