Kathmandu, January 14:

The restaurant and entertainment business in the Kathmandu Valley is ever growing, providing employment to hundreds of unskilled and semi-skilled youths. This sector, however, does not have separate legal identity of its own.

Restaurants fall under various categories: some employ traditional artists who entertain clients with traditional music and by singing folk songs, others employ young girls who dance to Bollywood and Nepali songs while some restaurants have small cubes where guests are taken care of by a single attendant who are mostly females.

However, the exact number of restaurants is not yet known. Entrepreneurs of this sector estimate that there are at least 1,200 restaurants where more than 50,000 people are employed.

Most restaurants are registered under different Acts under different authorities -- some are registered under the Small and Cottage Industries Act, the Local Governance Act and the Tourism Act while others are operating without permission from any authority.

This has led to these employees being deprived of the facilities and services offered by the state. Also the government is at loss as there is no proper mechanism by which tax is levied on these business ventures. The lack of a mandatory legal system to register the restaurants has resulted in the mushrooming of such establishments and is also leading to disorder and a state of lawlessness in these places.

“Restaurants are being opened everywhere without proper rules and regulations. An authorised monitoring body could help in regulating this business and also monitor the environment of the workplace, the locality in which

such restaurants could be run, and the code of conduct that the entrepreneurs, clients and workers should follow,” said Manoj KC, president of the Restaurants Association of Nepal.

KC added some of these restaurants are operating under unhealthy environment resulting in negative effects on both the service providers and seekers as well as the neighbourhood.

This lucrative sector has attracted many investors, but it is still unstable. The basic job criterion for the workers are willingness to work till late and serve clients especially male, which help earn a regular salary, huge tips plus perks from the employers for bringing in customers.

In view of this situation, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) formed a sub-committee in January 2007 to study the existing legal prospects of the cabin and dance restaurants. The team includes representatives of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, Department of Small and Cottage Industries, Metropolitan Police Crime Division and non-government organisations such as WOREC, Rahat, Maiti Nepal and Nepal Restaurant Entrepreneurs’ Association.

The sub-committee came up with a report titled ‘Identification of problems of women working in cabin, dance restaurants and massage parlours and their solution’. The report stressed on the need for a code of conduct to run the restaurant that includes workplace environment, the locality to run these restaurants, and working hours.

The NGOs working for women say this has become a place where sex related crimes mostly take place. Some organisations have been rescuing women from this sector and have been providing them vocational training.

“Working at a cabin restaurant is not permanent employment so contracts and job appointment letters would ensure job security,” said Sulakshana Rana, programme officer at SAATHI.

“Our organisation is helping them get training in various sectors which they find suitable. They are being trained in Thanka painting, driving, community health service etc,” she added.

The report has been submitted to the Supreme Court. A verdict from the apex court on how to regulate this sector is expected soon. Until a proper mechanism is introduced and all the stakeholders join hands, regulation of this sector seems a far-fetched dream.