By Express News Service

KOZHIKODE: Over 20,000 hotels and restaurants across the state are all set to provide toileting and restroom facilities free of cost to the public using a mobile app, thanks to an initiative by the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA). The pan-state rollout of the mobile app named ‘KLOO’ will be carried out by Industries Minister E P Jayarajan here on January 29 as part of the 54th state conference of the KHRA.

“Today the biggest problem faced by travellers is the lack of toilet facilities. The KHRA has launched the initiative taking into account the difficulties the government has in providing toilets across the state for travellers. Any person who installs the app on his mobile can avail of the service,” KHRA state general secretary G Jayapal told reporters here.

Jayapal said there would be no compulsion on the visitor to have food from the restaurant or hotel which he or she has chosen to use the service. He added that it would be a big boon to women travellers who are facing maximum hardship due to lack of proper toilets. The app will also have a rating option through which the public can rate the free service provided. The initiative was launched on a pilot basis in Kozhikode a few months ago, he said.

The state conference of KHRA - named ‘Salkara 2019’ - will be held in Kozhikode with a slew of programmes, including a hotel expo and a food fest. The public meeting in connection with the state conference will be inaugurated by Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda at 4 pm on January 29. The delegates’ meet will be held the previous day. Health Minister K K Shailaja, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar, Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan, MPs M K Raghavan, P K Kunhalikutty and E T Mohammad Basheer, A Pradeep Kumar MLA and Mayor Thottathil Raveendran will be among those who will attend various programmes in connection with the conference.

Room for rest