Mumbai dance bars set to open soon; Is senior IAS Vijay Satbir Singh satisfied after inspecting 4 bars?

LAST couple of days, 1984 batch IAS officer and Maharashtra’s principal secretary (appeals and security) Dr Vijay Satbir Singh visited four dance bars in Mumbai that were given temporary license. The senior IAS officer, accompanied by police officers including a DCP, visited the dance bars and checked whether the guidelines were being strictly followed, according to news reports. New norms say, dancers must be aged 18 and above and should not wear…

“provocative/obscene/vulgar” clothes. In fact, the state government put forth 26 conditions for re-opening of the dance bars. The CCTV cameras, for example, have been made mandatory in the bars now. Also, dancers must not booze around the bar. Further, a five-feet gap between the dance floor and the visitors has been made compulsory, and visitors won’t be allowed to shower currency notes on the dancers— which was a common practice earlier. Also, smoking won’t be allowed inside the dance bars. Not more than four dancers will be allowed at a time.

The Supreme Court last year directed the state government to issue licences to dance bars, but with a condition that "no dance performance shall remotely be expressive of any kind of obscenity in any manner”.

According to a report in The Indian Express, IAS officer Singh during the inspection asked a bar owner what happens if the lights go off in the crowded dance bar. In another bar, he suggested “no smoking” signs to be kept more prominently. In another dance bar, Singh was not very happy with the positioning of the CCTV cameras.

In fact, the police wanted live CCTV footage on performances in dance bars, something the Supreme Court rejected. 

The dance bars were banned in 2005. At that time, about 75,000 women were engaged as dancers, according to estimates.  
The dance bars in Mumbai are expected to re-open under stringent conditions in about a fortnight.