The Maharashtra government's decision to ban dance bars in Mumbai has evoked extreme reactions from bar employees and owners, NGOs and the public.
Bar dancers will be the worst affected lot when the decision is enforced.
Mostly uneducated and poor, these dancers have few other options to earn a living. Many of them have children and families to support.
While the cause of the dancers grabbed the media glare, other issues that needed attention included the future of the bar business and the state government's 'reasons' for the ban.
Taking up these issues, the Fight For Rights of Bar Owners' Association decided to move the courts against the government's decision.
Association president Manjeet Singh Sethi has been focussing on saving the jobs of 150,000 dance bar employees across the state.
In an interview with Senior Correspondent Vijay Singh, Sethi discussed dance bars, the problems they face and the problems they purportedly cause.
Who will be worst affected by the ban on dance bars?
The families of bar employees will be hit badly. For me it is a blessing in disguise. After dance bars are banned, I will enter the construction business and make money.
But what will the girls do? Who will take them in?
The government should provide them jobs with a minimum salary of Rs 5,000 per month which is very difficult, because most of them are uneducated.
Before taking the decision, the government should have consulted us; but they didn't.
How many dance bars are there in Maharashtra?
We have some 1,250 dance bars in Maharashtra, 600 of which are in Mumbai and 650 in other cities.
Around 75,000 dancers are employed in these bars. There are a similar number of male employees.
For instance, my bar has 35 dancers. We have 10 stewards, 12 waiters, and some cooks and cleaners.
What are the options before them now?
Around 1 percent of the dancers are very good looking and educated. They may get breaks in television, films or modelling. But there are no guarantees.
Dance bars are thriving in Bangalore and Hyderabad too. Some 5 to 6 per cent of the girls may migrate to those cities.
But these girls account for hardly 10 percent of the bar dancers. What will the other 90 percent do?
In Mumbai, girls are confident about their safety. So they don't move to other states unless forced to do so.
What do you think prompted the government to take this decision?
There are many reasons. America's pressure on the central government to stop trafficking could be one reason. Another could be that we didn't pay the government what it demanded.
The government demanded money?
One (Editor's note: Name deleted) demanded Rs 13 crore from me -- Rs 12 crore for the party (Nationalist Congress Party) and Rs 1 crore for himself.
He is now underground. He has a cabin in the NCP's head office. He was demanding money from us. My telephone bill statement is proof of this. He would call me often, sometimes late in the night, to discuss the matter. An NCP worker from Kurla also used to demand money from me.
How did this man go about asking for such a huge amount?
He went about it very cleverly. He called me at the NCP office when Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil was addressing some people in the office compound. (Name deleted) asked me to take a seat in his cabin. I could see the deputy CM from where I was sitting. After some time, (Name deleted) went out and spoke with Patil in a friendly manner. I was watching them. He came back and demanded Rs 13 crore.
Were you ready to pay Rs 13 crore?
Yes, we were ready to pay. But in return we wanted the government to allow us to increase bar timings and solve some other problems. But they were not ready to accept our demands.
You verbally attacked Mr R R Patil. Many bar owners have expressed unhappiness over your comments.
I never abused anyone. I just said I would not tolerate it if somebody attacked me. It is when NCP (
More from rediff