Butchers’ group points out shortage of cattle supply

SHILLONG, June 14: With Assam Government introducing the Cow Protection Bill in its recent Assembly session, there has been shortage of supply of cattle to Meghalaya.
This was pointed out by the Khasi Jaintia Butchers Welfare Association (KJBWA) on Monday, which raised this issue.
“No cattle are coming from outside the state after Assam Government had made the announcement to come up with a bill for protection of cattle last month,” KJBWA president Generous Warlarpih stated.
According to him, there are strong possibilities that Assam Government is not allowing transportation of cattle through Assam to other states. “It looks like they have gone ahead to impose ban of slaughter of cattle even before they have come up with the bill,” Warlarpih said.
He said that that the Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department, Dr KB Sahkhar, has also been alerted about the matter.
“We have also urged upon the director to see whether the state government can raise this matter with the Assam Government,” he said.
On the other hand, the KJBWA president said that they are unable to meet the demand with cattle available locally, adding that the price of each cattle in state ranges between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh. “We will not be able to continue our business since it is economically not viable. We cannot raise the price of beef since it is already Rs 450 to Rs 600 per kg,” KJBWA president lamented.
When contacted, Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department confirmed that the KJBWA has brought this matter before the department.
“I cannot comment anything at the moment since no communication has been received from the Assam Government in this regard,” Dr Sahkhar said.
Last month, Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi had announced that his government will introduce the Cow Protection Bill in the next assembly session.
Mukhi, while addressing the first session of 15th Assam Assembly, had said that Assam will adopt a ‘zero-toleration’ policy on cow protection and will impose stringent punishment for offenders. The Bill proposes a complete ban on the transport of cattle outside the state.