Making Haryana Tourism motels and resorts commercial if they sign MOUs with Haryana Universities
Gustakhi Maaf Haryana – Pawan Kumar Bansal
By our enlightened reader Dr. Ranbir Singh Phaugat.
The idea of leasing out Haryana Tourism motels and attached restaurants comes out from an old review report in which the financial audit revealed that more than half of the number of such resorts run by Haryana Tourism Corporation are running losses crossing lakhs of rupees per annum. You scarcely mentioned about it in your short note posted here. In days gone by, Haryana Tourism Corporation used to be managed by brilliant people and a newsletter was regularly brought out with excellently featured material with illustrations and photographs. I used to receive it regularly and have now preserved them right from issue number one to the last one when the pamphlet-size publication ceased on account of austerity as losses began to mount.
The Haryana Tourism resorts were never a “brain-child” of Mr. S. K. Mishra, IAS, who was just entrusted by Bansi Lal ji to examine the feasibility of setting up motels on state highways at select locations at which travelers and government officials who traveled for performing state duty could stay, besides fatigued people of nearby Delhi who could seek some sort of relief on week-end holidays. Mr. Mishra, who was on deputation to the Kerala government and had successfully set up back-water tourism in the coastal state, had just joined his cadre post in Haryana. Mishra had gained experience and was connected to people in the private sector that could implement his plan in setting up motels by Haryana Tourism Corporation.
Bansi Lal was anguished at the lack of quality lodging and eating facilities across the state as he was a frequent traveler and didn’t want to stay in commercial hotels, which were then available only in a few cities where industry and trade had already taken roots such as Faridabad, Ambala etc. But these hotels were far below standards and Municipal Committees or Corporations of these cities were already inspecting them for maintaining standards of hygiene and food. Parking space for vehicles in these hotels was also an issue because visitors parked them in front of hotels, which caused congestion on the serviceable roads.
Mr. Mishra executed the plan of setting up motels in an excellent manner and named all of them after birds that were considered auspicious and beautiful by the people of Haryana and identifiable to the common person. Locals hardly visited these resorts except where it was linked to a nearby lake or waterways or wooded, lush green groves of native species. Some were set up near canals whereas others, like Rajhans in Faridabad, were set in the pristine beauty of the Aravali hills. Rajhans, set up near historic Soorajkund—an ancient masonry water reservoir with ruins of a sun temple on its fringe—was patronized by Delhiwalahs as well as the Government of Haryana and the Federal Government for holding high-level meetings.
Instead of implementing the idea of leasing out a few resorts to private developers on a commercial basis, the Haryana Government should think of leasing them to nearby Hotel Management Institutes that dot various districts of Haryana. It may serve as a sort of practical business venture for the students and teachers, in which the ownership rights would exist with the State Government. The Haryana Tourism Corporation people lack ideas to explore the possibility of making the motels a commercial success if they sign MOUs with some of the leading universities of Haryana such as Maharishi Dayanand University and Kurukshetra University.