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Aid sought for Indian Coffee House

Photo: T. Singaravelou

CRYING FOR HELP: The Indian Coffee House on Jawaharlal Nehru Street, which is being renovated. —

PUDUCHERRY: A fervent plea has been made to the Puducherry government on Saturday to provide adequate assistance to enable the Indian Coffee House (ICH), an important tourist attraction in the Union Territory, which has just completed its golden jubilee, to keep the flag flying.

Office-bearers of the ICH Workers’ Union told reporters here that the cooperative society formed by the workers in 1958 with its headquarters in Puducherry is badly in need of government support for protecting the welfare of the workers, besides improving its revenue.

Honorary president of the union T. Murugan said the union thanked Chief Minister N. Rangasamy for providing Rs. 50 lakh, including Rs.12.50 lakh as loan component, for renovating the ICH building on Nehru Street, besides allowing Rs.5 lakh as government share.

Referring to the government’s assistance of Rs. one crore as grant for construction of restaurants in the private sector as part of measures to promote tourism, he asked the Chief Minister to earmark Rs. two crore for construction of a new building for the ICH, in view of the support it had been drawing from the domestic and foreign tourists.

He also pleaded with the government to convert the loan component of Rs.12.50 lakh provided to the ICH into grant.

Recalling the successful running of a restaurant on the beach for 24 years, Mr. Murugan said the then government had asked the ICH to wind up the unit in 1987.

The ICH should be allowed to run a restaurant at a suitable place on the beach road with a view to retaining 54 employees of its unit at the Anglo French Textile Mill, which had been suffering losses, he said.

The ICH cooperative society run by 220 workers requested the government to provide Rs.60 lakh as assistance for clearing the pay arrears for 2004 and 2005.

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