By Hugh & Colleen Gantzer
Yes, we do mean strays: not Stays. This is about those law-breakers who have taken undue advantage of one of our main visitor attractions: the many, beautiful and remote destinations in our wonderful state. These law-breakers also exploit our other attractions: our good-looking people, their poverty and their pride because they prefer to work for a living than sell themselves. All this has come to a head because of the death of a young woman named Ankita Bhandari. And though those who pushed her to the brink would rather have their activities brushed under the carpet, this is not likely to happen because, now, her father is asking for a more independent enquiry into her death.
In this column, however, we are not going into the SIT Vs CBI question. We would like to draw people’s attention to another grey area in our state’s Tourism Product: Home Strays namely those places which pretend to be Home Stays but have, in fact, strayed far from the well-meaning Home Stay concept.
The Central Government conceived the Home Stay idea because it found that it had oversold India when promoting an event. There were just too many takers and too little accommodation. So, making a virtue of necessity, they decided to encourage local citizens to welcome some of these foreign visitors to live as their “Paying Guests”, though the very concept of a guest paying for hospitality was alien to our traditions!
To sell the concept of Home Stays to our people, the Government said that this would give visitors an authentic taste and feel of Indian Customs, Traditions, Food and Festivals as well as building permanent bridges between our people and the people of other countries. It was a great idea as an Idea. But some clever people have managed to twist this noble concept to allow them to run unregistered hotels. Everyone now knows what can happen when the idea of a Resort can be twisted to create a Slezeort: a sex-booze and drugs establishment offering Special Services.
To ensure that Home Stays adhere to the original concept the following seven rules should be enforced:-
- All Home Stays must be registered with our Tourism Ministry/ Department. Unregistered Home Stays will be treated as unregistered hotels and penalised appropriately.
- The applicant must provide the names of four adult family members one of whom must be present in the Home Stay whenever guests are in occupancy. If for any reason none of these four persons are physically in the Home Stay then the Home Stay will be treated as an unlicensed\ unregistered Hotel attracting all the penalties that such an illegal institution deserves.
- To ensure the building of warm personal relationships between the guests and their hosts it is necessary that not more than two rooms, including attached bathrooms may be given to guests in a Home Stay at any time.
- A single kitchen must cater to both guests and owners and at least one of the listed family members must be present at all meals served to guests.
- A copy of the Home Stay’s Registration must be displayed prominently in the room in which the guests and owners have their meals.
- The names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least three officials, to whom complaints can be made, must be displayed along with the Registration Certificate.
- If none of the four family members can be present during the occupancy of a guest at the Home Stay then the Home Stay will be treated as an unregistered Hotel subject to all the penalties attracted by such an unauthorised institution. This stipulation must be displayed prominently near the framed Registration Certificate.
The strict implementation of these Rules will ensure that Home Stays do not stray into becoming the sort of dangerous den of vice that Ankita was, reportedly, subjected to.
This, however, does not prevent home owners from hosting genuine friends and relatives. But if home owners are found to be advertising their accommodation in any way then, obviously, they are making a commercial enterprise of their accommodation. This act would make them operators of commercial Home Stays and subject to the Rules enforced by the state to protect the interests of visitors.
We have to wipe out the erring Home Strays!
And we wish the Garhwal Post a very Happy Anniversary in its continuing crusade to serve Today’s People, especially those in our beautiful state.
