UP: With Slaughterhouses Shut, 40% of Restaurants Stare at Closure by Year-End

Lucknow: The nationwide lockdown, which spanned over two months, has adversely impacted Uttar Pradesh’s restaurant industry, which rely heavily on meat items, due to a lack of workforce and the unavailability of meat. The industry continues to slump with no signs of revival. If the down-slide persists, around 40% of restaurants and hotels in UP are likely to wind up by the end of the year.

According to an estimate by the Uttar Pradesh Hotel and Restaurant Association (UPHRA), since the nationwide lockdown began, hotels and restaurants in Uttar Pradesh have been losing revenues ranging between Rs 350 crore and Rs 500 crore every month.

“Our business is down by 90% due to the unavailability of meat. There is also a shortage of staff as labourers have gone to their native places,” Garish Oberoi, general secretary, UPHRA told NewsClick.

The industry is a direct and indirect source of livelihood for 50 to 60 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh alone.

Lack of Meat Supply Forces Restaurants to go Vegetarian

Despite the Centre’s guidelines which say that mutton, poultry and fish markets can remain open, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has willfully disallowed mutton and chicken shops from functioning across the state “because a majority of the people associated with the trade are Muslims,” Abdul Rahim Qureshi, a meat exporter in Lucknow, told NewsClick.

Slaughter houses and roadside chicken and mutton shops have been shut since March 20, days before the nationwide lockdown was announced. After the ‘Janata Curfew’ was declared on March 22, the UP Chief Minister announced a three-day lockdown between March 23 and March 25, in fifteen districts.

“It has been over 73 days since chicken and mutton shops opened across Uttar Pradesh, despite the Central Government’s guidelines that mutton, poultry and fish markets can remain open. The UP government follows the Centre’s guidelines in letter and in spirit otherwise, but has overlooked this important sector for obvious reasons,” said Abdul Rahim Qureshi.

When ‘Unlock 1.0’ began on June 1, the Uttar Pradesh government issued an order saying that licensed slaughter houses could start functioning. The order, issued by the District Magistrate, Lucknow, brought smiles to the faces of meat and chicken sellers.

“We were supposed to open our shops from June 3," said Yaqoob Qureshi, a meat seller in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. "I have a licence and the government has allowed us to operate,” he said.

However, even after June 10, shops did not open. An enquiry to Awanish Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department, drew a muted smile. No verbal response was forthcoming.

Rashid Khan, the manager of a prominent chain of fine dining restaurants in Varanasi, said that his team has been trying to source meat, “but all in vain. Neither fresh nor frozen meat is available in the market. There is a high demand for non-vegetarian dishes, but we can deliver vegetarian items only. We are considering raising our concerns with the administration,” he added.

Ajit Kapoor, the founder of a restaurant chain, said that the supply of meat had stopped and there was no clarity about when it would resume.

“Even frozen meat is sparsely available now. It is ironical that no licensed meat seller or slaughter-house is open in Lucknow, which is a city of meat lovers,” he said, adding that in the post-COVID scenario, he hoped that the administration would prioritise meat sales.

On Thursday, Kapoor’s restaurants primarily served vegetarian dishes, with a few exceptions, despite high demand.

Abid Khan, the manager of Lucknow Chicken House, said that their restaurant would open for delivery, but that no fresh meat was available. “We have procured packaged frozen meat, but for certain dishes, fresh meat is a must. If the situation does not improve, we will have to restrict our menu to vegetarian items,” he said.

Lockdown Hits Low-Income Eating Joints

Lower-income eating joints, which were already running at a loss due to various factors, have been badly affected by the lockdown. The lockdown has completely crippled the business of small restaurants in the state. The owners, now in a precarious situation, are looking out for other opportunities.

Jagdish Yadav, the owner of two dhabas on the Faizabad-Lucknow highway, is unable to resume business as most of his staff have returned to their native places. By restricting his menu only to vegetarian items, he will not be able to tide over daily expenses.

"If the lockdown is not lifted at the earliest, we will not be able to survive. We are paying rent and electricity bills but there is no income. If the slump in the restaurant industry continues, then we might have to shut down our business. We also need workforce, which is not available, to begin operations," he said.

Atul, the owner of a famous eating joint in the Hazartganj area, said that the restaurant industry will not survive through online business “and it is difficult to predict when the crisis will end, because the cases of COVID-19 are constantly rising. Ahead of the lockdown, my daily sales were for over Rs 60,000, but there has been no business for two months. Most of the staff, including cooks, have returned home. We have got very few orders online since a large part of what we serve are non-vegetarian dishes, and there is no meat available."