By Matters India Reporter
Panaji: The Church in Goa has urged the state chief minister to urgently intervene to resolve meat shortage that has severely affected people’s protein intake and tourism industry.
The Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) wrote to Pramod Sawant that the western Indian state started experiencing the shortage after neighboring Karnataka state passed a bill to ban cattle slaughter.
The Goa archdiocese’ social action wing says its December 15 memorandum is sent on behalf of meat traders and consumers as well as in the interest of the tourism industry in the state.
“This intervention is requested on behalf of the vast majority of beef consumers as well as for the benefit of the culinary business in Goa and for the benefit of tourism in the state,” says the letter signed by the council’s executive secretary Father Savio Fernandes.
The Church body wants the Goa chief minister to “urgently intervene in the matter with Karnataka on behalf of Goa asking it not to notify the bill in their state in order to safeguard the livelihood of hundreds of meat traders who along with their employees are totally dependent on this trade for their survival.”
The Karnataka government on December 9 hurriedly passed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill 2020 in the state Assembly ignoring protests from opposition parties. The bill now awaits the state governor’s nod to become a law. It disallows beef as a choice of food in the southern Indian state.
The bill prohibits the slaughter of all cattle — cow, calf of a cow, bull, and bullock. The only is a male or female buffalo above the age of 13. Penalty for other slaughter will range from 50,000 rupees to 1 million rupees per animal and three to seven years’ imprisonment. The law gives the police powers of search and seizure on the basis of “reason to believe” that cattle is being sold, purchased or disposed of for the purpose of slaughter.
The Goa Church body points out that Maharashtra, another neighboring state that used to beef to Goa, passed a similar law was 2015. Since then, Goa depended solely on Karnataka for its beef supply.
The council says animals required for beef supply are not available in Goa since agriculture is not large scale in the state.
“The supply of beef or even live animals for slaughter blocked by both the neighboring states has seriously affected the livelihood of hundreds of meat traders, who along with their family members depend solely on this trade for their survival,” the council letter explains.
The meat shortage has also severely affected a sizable number of people who worked in the meat industry.
The letter also points out that majority of people in Goa consume beef. And for many of them beef is the primary source of protein.
Goa is the top tourist destination in India and the beef shortage will affect the state’s tourism industry, the letter says.
“In a multi- cultural society like India, such a ban will prove to be a challenge in upholding the plurality, which is the essence of our nation. Besides, thousands of dairy farmers from Karnataka will be impacted by these new rules which prevent them from selling their cattle in the markets for the purpose of slaughter, as a result it would be extremely difficult for the vast majority of these farmers to procure new animals for agriculture purpose,” the letter states.
Earlier on December 14, an association of meat traders drew Savant’s attention that Goa is among “highest beef consuming states” in India. The Qurarishi’s Meat Traders Association of Goa says tourists from all over the world find Goa favorable because of it Indo-Portuguese, western and Indian nuanced culinary skills “which highlights a menu inter alia based on beef.”
The association also asserts culinary houses in Goa need beef to sustain the menus and offer delicacies that put Goa on the world map.