‘Unhygienic’: GSRTC breaks ties with 27 highway hotels; more hotels could face the ire

The list of the 27 hotels was uploaded on the official X handle of Minister of State for Home and Transport, Harsh Sanghavi. Twelve of these hotels, which top the list, are on the Ahmedabad-Surat route, followed by six on the Ahmedabad-Palanpur route. These hotels are the GSRTC divisions of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Palanpur, Godhra, Mehsana, Bhuj, Bharuch, Nadiad and Rajkot.

The state-run corporation which has the largest network of inter-city buses holds auctions every year to forge tie-ups with highway hotels.

“The decision was taken due to the poor, unhygienic conditions and the high prices of food items charged from passengers by the hotels,” Sanghavi told The Indian Express.

The minister added that the government was receiving regular complaints from passengers regarding unclean washrooms and inflated charges at these hotels. “The passengers also uploaded photos on our online feedback system. We continuously get complaints from passengers that we have verified before taking action. We will continue such drive in coming days covering other such hotels”, Sanghavi told this paper.

Explaining the relationship between GSRTC and private hotels, Transport Commissioner Anupam Anand said, “We generally hold auctions for the hotels on the state highways and national highways, where passengers travelling in government buses can eat in a neat and clean environment, and also use clean washrooms. The hotels participating in the auction process must follow certain cleanliness, parking, and price criteria. The auctioned hotels get business from passengers travelling in government buses. These hotels have been associated with us for many years. This also damages our image.”

He added, “We are working on a model of canteen facilities to be set up by Gujarat state tourism department on the government land on national and state highways. Apart from this, we are also working on a public-private partnership model … if a private person can set up (such facilities) on land owned by the state tourism department. We are also working on the challenges. Many passengers say that they travel for three to four hours without a stoppage. We are working professionally to give the best services to the passengers.”