GUWAHATI, Aug 11 - With the two State guest houses occupied by the present Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, the Government of Assam has decided to convert the Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok as a State guest house and convention centre.
According to a notice issued by the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), the hotel, on the bank of River Brahmaputra opposite the Gauhati High Court, will close operations permanently from September 1 this year.
All pre-closure operations of the hotel are being handled by the ATDC, which had taken over the hotel from July 1 this year.
It may be noted that a State guest house atop Koinadhara Hill had been occupied by former Chief Minister Gogoi as his official residence as a CM, which he is yet to vacate. After coming to power, present Chief Minister Sonowal started residing in other State guest house known as Brahmaputra Guest House in Satpukhuri area (near the Raj Bhawan).
Even though ATDC sources informed The Assam Tribune that a package was being offered to the present staff of the Brahmaputra Ashok, the contractual workers of the hotel claimed that nothing was offered to them.
�Only the permanent staff have been offered voluntary retirement and we are exploring legal options for the contractual staff now,� a staff member of the hotel said. At present there are 56 permanent staff and 50 contractual workers in the hotel.
