Restrictions on the supply of beef and transport of cattle and the resulting high prices of the meat is bringing joy to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, opposition Trinamool Congress alleged today.
Speaking in the Assembly, Umroi MLA and opposition chief whip George Lyngdoh said that the restrictions around beef have been tailor-made by the BJP and the MDA has gone along with it in order to please the Hindu fundamentalist party.
The Centre and the MDA, he said, have been successful in ensuring that Meghalaya’s access to beef is restricted. “The inaction of the state government proves beyond a doubt that it is ensuring that the BJP succeeds in its plans and ensures that cattle does not reach Meghalaya,” he added.
The legislator also said that even when cattle do manage to reach Meghalaya, it either costs too much for ordinary people to buy or is smuggled over into Bangladesh where prices are even higher.
This way, the government has been able to “hoodwink” the people and ensure that no beef ban law is required in Meghalaya as simple economics will put the meat out of reach of the majority of the population, he added.
Meanwhile, Mawsynram MLA Himalaya Shangpliang, also of the TMC, said that the state needs a cattle mission along the lines of its piggery mission. Costs have risen considerably, with a cow that once was priced at Rs 10,000 now fetching Rs 25,000. This has put beef out of the range of the common man.
Next, Mawlai MLA Process Sawkmie bizarrely suggested that rat meat from Assam was being passed off as beef in Shillong.
For the government’s party, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister Sanbor Shullai, of the BJP, said that the government is procuring semen of Ongole bulls to expand the artificial insemination programme in Meghalaya and make the state self-sufficient in meat production.
According to the 2019 livestock census, Meghalaya has 9.5 lakh cattle. The government is aiming to increase this to 15 lakh in a short span of time.
Meghalaya, the minister said, has issued 280 transit permits to traders and dairy cooperatives since Assam passed legislation to restrict transport of cows in the state. The government is also stepping up measures to curb smuggling, he added.
