SRINAGAR: Eleven months after it sealed the historic hotel over the violation of the lease agreement, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday has decided to absorb 145 employees of Hotel Corporation of India Limited (HCIL) working at Centaur Lake view Hotel, Srinagar, in different corporations under the Tourism Department.
The significant decision came at the meeting of Administrative Council (AC), equivalent to cabinet in popular government, which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, and Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.
The decision was taken on the recommendations of the committee that the existing staff of the Hotel Corporation of India Limited will be absorbed by the UT of J&K on the existing terms and conditions while the payment of retirement gratuity and other benefits of the employees for the period they worked with HCI will be borne by HCI.
The Hotel Corporation of India has 145 permanent employees of Centaur Lake View Hotel as on May 1, 2023 which will be absorbed on existing terms and conditions in Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation Limited, Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation Limited and Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre, Srinagar, as per their requirement and absorptive capacity to be determined by the Tourism Department.
In June last year, the Jammu and Kashmir government had taken over the possession of Centaur hotel and sealed the building after the Hotel Corporation of India violated conditions of the lease agreement by subletting the Hotel to a third party.
