At first glance, the meat ‘shop’ ban brought about by Haryana chief minister ML Khattar might seem controversial and wrong to you.
But first, one thing to clear up is that the ban is on ‘meat shops’ that are operating in the residential areas of Haryana.
No one is banning the consumption of meat in Haryana, instead, the ban is just geared towards unlicensed meat shops that exist in the residential areas around Gurgaon and other regions in Haryana.
As reported the issue came up during the District Grievance Committee’s monthly meeting taking in consideration the high number of complaints that called for a removal of such meat shops.
What Is The Issue Here?
As reported the issue came up during the District Grievance Committee’s monthly meeting taking in consideration the high number of complaints that called for a removal of such meat shops.
There have also been attempts by other organizations like Shiv Sena and Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Kranti Dal that demanded the closure of such shops and even recently during Navratri times visited markets and such shops and allegedly asked them to close down during the festival period.
Even as per the civic body sources, no meat shop has been authorized to operate in the residential areas of Harayan and those that are doing so are probably doing it without the mandatory permission and license.
Earlier in May, Khattar had asked for the closure of about 666 unlicensed meat shops and slaughterhouses in Gurgaon.
Now with this ban, an approximate of 2,300 meat shops that exist in the residential areas of Gurgaon itself are expected to get affected.
Read More: Producing Clean Meat Just As Easy As Brewing Beer: The Real Future Of Food
Why This Ban Is Not That Wrong
Thinking carefully and sensibly one will see that this ban is not necessarily that wrong, considering that hygiene and livability of the people in these residential areas is the matter at hand.
The govt. and the authorities are not in any way banning or prohibiting people from eating meat, instead they are making the unlicensed shops go the right way and do things according to the law.
Commercial activity in residential areas greatly affects not only the life of the people living there but also brings about issues like disposal of garbage, customers and security issues.
The shop cannot control who can visit their shops, and operating one will bring any even unwanted and unsafe people into those residential areas which can have an impact on the residents.
Operating a meat shop without having to go through all the processes of hygiene, cleanliness and quality control can be quite unhygienic. Some people might not like the strong smell and sights of fresh meat which can make their living in that area difficult.
Also, slaughtering just about anywhere is not hygienic, with this ban meat shops will be provided a specific place by the municipal body where slaughtering can occur.
There is nothing wrong with this ruling since it was said by authorities long back that commercial shops cannot and should not operate within residential areas.
And hopefully, this ban will not just include unlicensed meat shops but other shops too that are operating in residential areas without proper permits.
There are shops like Modern Bazaar and other licensed meat shops that sell their meat covered and in proper packaging.
At the moment we cannot say with surety if this is saffronization of people’s food habits. But I believe that it is a good move as long as it is there to regulate licensed and legal commercial activity and operation of meat shops in a proper manner.
But the minute it becomes a political move and snooping into people’s kitchen then that is where we go wrong.
Image Credits: Google Images
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