Now, city night life may not be a distant dream

Delhi youngsters will soon enjoy <g data-gr-id="32">full</g> <g data-gr-id="28">night life</g> in the city as the tourism department of the Delhi government is mulling a proposal to allow pubs, bars and restaurants to operate till 2.30 am. The government has also directed the restaurants’ body — National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI)— to submit a detailed blueprint in this regard by the end of this week.

“Today, people reach home by 9 pm and some even later. If they want to enjoy the famous cuisines of Old Delhi in the off-business hours when there is no traffic and no pollution, the government won’t come in their way,” said Kapil Mishra, Delhi Tourism minister. He further added, besides restaurants, the government is also considering allowing night operation of eateries at famous tourist places to showcase before tourists the rich cultural heritage of the places.

“The government should not interfere in the personal life of citizens. It should be left to the citizens when they want to return home, when do they want to go for a hangout, what do they write on Facebook or WhatsApp,” said Mishra. 

Taking a dig at the Centre he added that there are two ideologies in the country — one which wants to ban even mobile phones for girls and restrict them to their homes and the other is what the Delhi government follows — having faith in the young generation and letting them live as free citizens.

The minister also argued that even today bars and restaurants operate late night but by bribing the police while this government wants everybody to do honest business. “I personally think there should not be any time restriction. Businessmen will not open their shops if there is no customer,” he added.

Mishra also argued that the step will increase the business of small traders and street vendors as well. “Once they submit their demands in writing, I will call a meeting of all the concerned departments to take a final decision,” said Mishra. “We will have to change the existing system of time restrictions to showcase our rich culture to the citizens particularly to the youth,” he added. It’s important to mention that the Delhi government has proposed 15 tourism hubs to promote Delhi as a tourism-friendly city.

Riyaaz Amlani, the President of NRAI said: “Fears were also raised when we demanded <g data-gr-id="37">extension</g> of timing in Bengaluru but after the implementation there <g data-gr-id="35">were</g> no increase in crime or road accidents reported. The present closing time of restaurants, bars, cafés in the city is 1 am and the restaurants’ body wants to extend it till 2.30 am on the weekends for a period of three months to start with. Eventually, this can be made permanent after evaluating all parameters. This is based on what was implemented in Bengaluru,” added Amlani.