Maharashtra police cracked down on dance performances in bars for the first time in 2005.
A week after the Supreme Court directed Maharashtra government to grant licences to dance bars, the state has decided to introduce new legislation to regulate them. The laws will introduce provisions for a fixed salary, the dancers will be dropped home after work and will have the right to choose working hours.
"The Chief Minister has said some norms will be introduced... some measures will be taken up so the dignity of women is preserved and their livelihood as well," said Minister of State (Home) Ranjit Patil.
The new laws will come as a relief to thousands of women like 39-year-old Protima, who driven by poverty and desperation, had taken up work at a dance bar 10 years ago.
But their livelihood was at stake after the state police cracked down on dance performances in bars for the first time in 2005. Later, the state bought in a law banning dance routine in all establishments except Five-Star hotels.
After the top court had quashed the law in 2013, another law banning dance bars altogether was passed unanimously without a debate in June 2014.
"So many girls and bar owners were left helpless. We were promised alternative jobs, but even that didn't happen," said Protima, the only breadwinner for a family of five who earns barely Rs 8,000 a month.
On March 1, the Supreme Court directed the state government to grant licences to dance bars within a fortnight. It also rejected 6 of the 26 conditions laid out by the police -- the most controversial one involving police stations monitoring CCTV feed from dance bars.
While hotel and bar owners are relieved by the judgment, they are sceptical about police cooperation.
"Eleven years ago we used to pay salaries to the girls and ferried them home. But police used to fine the girls," said Praveen Agarwal, Secretary of Mumbai Hotels Association.
Today, there are around 1,200 bars across Maharashtra, over 560 of them in Mumbai alone. Around 100 of them have already applied for licence to hold dance performances.