Indian authorities have decided to close down some 600 cabarets in the commercial capital Bombay, a government spokesman said yesterday, robbing the country?s entertainment hub of one of its major attractions. The move by the the western state of Maharashtra, of which Bombay is the capital, to shut down cabarets that employ girls to dance follows fears that they corrupt youth, threaten local culture and encourage prostitution, he said. The move follows a decision last month to close nearly 650 of these establishments elsewhere in Maharashtra.

?The cabinet last night approved a proposal to close the bars in Bombay as well, as they had a bad influence on society,? the government spokesman said. The decision to extend the ban to Bombay came after the government was criticised by voluntary groups and opposition parties for allowing bars in Bombay to function. Most bars in the state employ girls, who dress in colourful costumes and dance to Bollywood film songs, as customers shower them with currency bills.

The girls, however, remain fully clothed throughout the performance and customers are strictly prohibited from touching the dancers. The bars are not illegal, but police say some act as a front for prostitution and had cracked down on them last year and arrested hundreds of girls. But the closure of the cabarets was likely to render jobless more than 150,000 people across the state, including dancers, waiters, bouncers and security guards, officials said.

Bar owners and dancers staged street protests after the decision to close cabarets outside Bombay.?The government?s decision will force a majority of the 75,000 girls working in bars into the flesh trade at one go,? said Varsha Kale, president of Bharatiya Bar Girls? Union. ?Most girls working in bars are the only breadwinners in a family. They will now be unable to pay their rent and starve.?