Take your grandparents to hotel and get a discount!

Take grandparents out for a dinner and get a discount on your bill -- this could soon be a reality if hotels across the country accept an appeal of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants of India (FHRI).

The FHRI has written to around 4,000 members to take up social responsibility programmes, including giving discounts to those taking their grandparents to restaurants.

"This is one of our suggestions to our members. The idea is to encourage people to take elder people out who otherwise have no active social life," FHRI Secretary General Deepak Sharma told PTI.

However, Sharma said it is not a directive from the apex body and it is up to the state or city units to decide which project they want to take up.

"We don't want that some hotels in a city follow it and some do not. It should be unanimous. So, we want the hotels to discuss it and take a final decision, including the discount percentage, if they agree," he said.

The hotels in Chandigarh have already started the scheme offering discounts up to 20 per cent.

Acting on FHRI appeal, Sharma said, hotels in Gurgoan are giving pastries and cakes to NGOs in evenings which in turn supply it to underprivileged children while those in Delhi have decided to change their enterprises into 'green hotels' ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

"It's for the state or city units to decide what do they want to do and how to make a change in the society. We are just acting as a catalyst," Sharma said.

He said they have suggested a series of programmes which they could take up.

In the national capital, the hoteliers have entered into an MoU with Delhi government to make their enterprises into 'green hotels' ahead of the 2010 Games.

"We have identified areas like waste management, water and power. We are trying to ensure minimum use of electricity. There are programmes for water conservation. We are also into converting inedible oil into bio-diesel," he said.