Lose-lose situation

This pertains to the recent state government ban on the possessing and selling of beef products. The ban on cow slaughter was already existent, but the ban on slaughtering bullocks is unfair to several sections of society because it was an affordable source of protein and essential nutrients in their diet. Not only Muslims, Christians, Parsis and of course, the growing number of expatriates who come to the city on business, education or work in Mumbai and other cities of Maharashtra, also consume beef. With this impractical step, thousands of poor people dependent on the beef trade are going to lose their livelihood. Thousands in the leather goods trade are also going to be affected. Not a word has been said about their rehabilitation while bringing the above ban into effect. Mumbai and Pune are now global cities and will figure prominently in the Make in India campaign. Such global cities need to be in sync with universal dining practices, where the choice of one’s food is not determined by the jingoistic preferences of a few. The next question is, what do the farmers do with their old bullocks? With no structured manner of disposal, these will be left to starve and die by the roadside. This will be a further cause of environmental pollution and disease. No number of goshalas will be able to take care of such animals. In short, this measure will alienate the minority, rob people of their livelihood, put off potential expat investors, increase greenhouse emissions and will be a drag on public finance. The gains from this move are absolutely nil.

Julius-Deepak Machado