Adityanath's crackdown on abattoirs puts UP in a dangerous place

Yogi Adityanath has made good on his election promise by clamping down on abattoirs in Uttar Pradesh. Although he has shut down 140 illegal abattoirs, his intention to shut all those dealing in buffalo meat has triggered alarm, and also encouraged attacks on meat shops in Hathras.

Even as I write this, meat sellers and wholesalers have extend their strike to make it indefinite, and have been joined by fish-sellers in solidarity, perforce turning the entire population of Uttar Pradesh vegetarian.

The shutting of abattoirs is viewed by many as a solution to the pollution in the Ganges, since slaughter-houses were known to dump their animal waste into the river. Few realise that this amounts to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

India’s Pink Revolution

One needs to understand that India’s meat exports have been growing by leaps and bounds over the last decade or so. From the third position as recent as 2009-10, India climbed to the second position in 2013.

At the moment, India ranks next to Italy in meat exports, with buffalo meat exports worth Rs 26681.56 crore, sheep/goat meat exports at Rs 837.76 crore and poultry exports at Rs 768.72 crore.  In fact, India remains the largest exporter of sheep/goat meat in the world, having exported meat to the tune of 21,950.71 metric tonnes.

With 13 per cent of the world’s cattle population, and 56 per cent of the world’s buffalo population, as also the largest livestock population in the world, India was meant to initiate a pink revolution in meat exports.

But what has actually helped is the government’s initiative - since 2009 - to provide exporters with financial and other assistance to set up meat processing units.

At the moment, India has 3,600 slaughter houses. There are 75 integrated abattoirs-cum-meat processing plants, of which 13 are 100 per cent export-oriented units. All slaughter in India follows the halal system, with every export unit having to adhere to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points and BIS standards which are technically equivalent to International Standards (ISO) of CODEX.

However, there are several hundreds of illegal slaughter houses that do not follow any hygienic or other norms. These are, by all accounts, a danger to public health. Rampant slaughter is carried out on pavements and congested localities, notwithstanding existing laws. So far, the UP CM has clamped down on these operatives. But the very fact that the UP meat industry employs 15 million people should sound a word of caution.

Several perceptions colour opinion on the move. Most believe the industry is dominated by the Muslim community, which is not really true. In fact, four of the biggest meat exporters in the country belong to the majority Hindu community, including al-Kabeer and al-Fahim al-Nur, among others. Besides, cow slaughter being banned in meat exporting states, that is Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, what is exported and processed is buffalo meat or carabeef. Even otherwise, there is a total ban on beef exports in India.

To ban or not to ban

There are many who cite the Yogi’s anti-Muslim bias and past record of communal violence to explain the clampdown on the meat industry. But no CM should, ideally, have his actions coloured by bias.

Of course, it is important to check illegal abattoirs and their violations for the greater public good. It would not be wise, either, to ignore the earnings to the economy that meat exports have hitherto contributed so far. The matter of employment should be another major consideration.

The ideal way forward, hence, ought to be the forcible registering and licensing of all abattoirs, and insistence on following of hygiene and other norms. Every abattoir ought to follow the rules regarding disposal of waste, violation of prescribed standards of pollution control and public health needs to be severely dealt with.

There could be some steps taken to augment exports, with the help of farmers and rural households. In India, male buffalo calves are generally killed, since they are not economically worth raising. This could be stopped, and buffaloes could be raised instead for meat, through contractual farming. This can also supplement the incomes of farm households in rural India.

At the same time, the government ought to continue encouraging the setting up of integrated abattoirs-cum-meat processing facilities all over the country to meet exacting international standards. With a huge mandate in its favour, this should not be too difficult for the BJP to achieve.

Or else, it might end up killing the proverbial golden goose for that elusive religious halo.

What’s more, large-scale unemployment might only encourage crime, the eradication of which was an important election plank that catapulted the BJP to power.

Also read: Why Gandhi opposed legislative ban on cow slaughter