War on abattoirs shakes licensed units too
A sense of fear has enveloped the meat industry in Uttar Pradesh in view of the ongoing crackdown against illegal abattoirs, but surprisingly, the wind is being felt in licensed slaughterhouses too.
For instance, Vishwanathan Pillai, who works as production head at Frigerio Conserva Allana Limited, one of the country’s biggest — and legal — slaughterhouse-cum-meat processing units, said the factory has seen 50% reduction in buffalo stock due to the crackdown and fears the “worst is yet to come”.
“The traders have stopped transporting animals from local mandis because they fear they would be attacked on the way. Farmers do not want to sell their spent animals because the rates have come down. I do not know who will give us jobs if they close our plant too,” said Pillai.
During his first visit to Gorakhpur after being sworn in as CM, Yogi Adityanath had said on Saturday: “The government will not touch those abattoirs which are operating as per the provisions of the law and have a valid licence”, adding that those violating National Green Tribunal norms would not be spared.
But people employed in a wide swathe of businesses, from restaurants to abattoirs to meat shops and the leather trade, fear that a zealous administration may exceed the Yogi’s brief.
The Frigerio abattoir, spread over 45 acres in Talaspur Khurd village of Aligarh, provides employment to 2,100-odd workers, most of them Hindus. The crackdown has found support of Hindu right-wing groups and this has made workers like Pillai foresee a bleak future.
“Except butchers who are specialised in ‘halal’ (Islamic) slaughter, the rest of the workers in almost all abattoirs are Hindus,” said an office-bearer of the All India Meat and Livestock Exporters’ Association.
In economic terms, UP accounts for nearly 50% of India’s total meat exports, an industry that provides livelihood to 2.5 million people, directly or indirectly. Abattoir owners allege the administration was harassing even legal set-ups, perhaps to “please their bosses”.
“Why have they (authorities) woken up suddenly? They should have given us time to get licences. I am jobless till I procure a licence,” said Shaban Qureshi, who runs a meat shop in Meerut
“All our three units in Sahibabad, Aligarh and Unnao have all the clearances. But still administration officials come to harass us,” said Ayaz Siddiqui, who recently joined Allanasons after quitting a job at a five-star hotel.
Of the 72 government-approved abattoirs across the country, 38 are in UP. The association puts the country’s annual meat exports at ₹27,000 crore, which includes ₹15,000 crore from UP.
Fearing a ban would mean a loss of least ₹11,350 crore of revenue, the association is mulling a legal option in case the UP government passes an ordinance to ban the business.
THE COUNTRY’S ANNUAL MEAT EXPORT IS PEGGED AT ₹27,000CR, WHICH INCLUDES ₹15,000 CRORE FROM UP