The Hindu 05.11.2009
Demand to waive off MCD tax on slaughtering
Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
| Delegation of Meat Merchants’ Association meets Sheila Dikshit |
Protest against the filth around the new slaughterhouse at Ghazipur
There is a limit to which the Government can act: Sheila Dikshit
NEW DELHI: A delegation of the Delhi Meat Merchants’ Association met Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday to demand waiver of certain taxes on them by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and to protest against the filth around the new slaughterhouse at Ghazipur.
During the meeting, Ms. Dikshit heard the grievances of the traders and told them to meet MCD Commissioner K. S. Mehra to sort out their demands. “I told them that as far as the issue of foul smell emanating from the Ghazipur landfill site is concerned, we are already working on shifting to new sites. Also, as they claimed that a number of the meat traders would be rendered unemployed, the Municipal Commissioner has been asked to see how they can be accommodated in related trades,” she said.
The Chief Minister said the meat traders have also been clearly told that there is a limit to which the Government can act as the Supreme Court is monitoring the entire issue. “We have to go by the law,” she said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Meat Merchants’ Association president Mohammad Aqil Qureshi said the traders have some big concerns. He said about 3,500 butchers were engaged in slaughter at Idgah but only about 150 of them have been accommodated at Ghazipur where the slaughtering is done with modern machines. “All the other butchers have been rendered unemployed and something needs to be done for them.”
Mr. Qureshi said the meat merchants, who have been on a strike since October 22, when Idgah slaughter house was closed, also want the monthly Rs.10,000 tax imposed by MCD on slaughtering at Ghazipur to be waived. He said a meeting of the All India Janait-ul-Qureshi has been convened where a final decision on how to proceed with the ongoing agitation would be taken. Incidentally, ever since the butchers at Idgah have been on a strike the price of meat has shot up by nearly Rs.75 per kg while that of chicken too has risen by about Rs.30 per kg.
Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister Haroon Yusuf, who has been interacting closely with the meat merchants, said he is still working on finding an amicable solution to the problem. “The Supreme Court has ruled that no slaughtering can take place at Idgah but it has allowed the trading in livestock to continue there for another two weeks before it would again review the matter.”
In the meantime, he said, efforts would be made to ensure that those who have been rendered unemployed are provided related jobs.
