MARGAO
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Churchill Alemao on Thursday demanded the immediate intervention of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to resume beef supply to the State, further demanding that the government resume operations at the Goa Meat Complex by arranging transportation of cattle from other states.
After a delegation of Muslim community led by Iftikar Sheikh and Abdulmatin Carol called on him at his residence on Thursday, Churchill said he would call on the Chief Minister on Friday with a plea to resolve the beef issue.
Addressing the media, Churchill said the Bill passed by Karnataka only means denial of consumption of beef as well as transportation of the cattle from that state to Goa. “I know that the Chief Minister is aware of the fact that minority communities of Christian and Muslim consume beef, besides the tourists visiting the State. If Karnataka has banned slaughter of all sorts of cattle, the Chief Ministers should work out a solution, including reopening of the Goa Meat Complex to solve the problem,” he said.
Churchill assured the Muslim community that the minorities in Goa need not worry about the availability of beef, saying there will be no such ban in Goa as long as he is alive.
He said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will have to think 100 times before banning the sale and slaughter of animals in Goa, pointing out that beef is a common man’s meat item.
Sheikh Iftikar told the media that Goa’s consumption of beef is pegged around 25-30 tonnes a day and the demand was meant primarily by the supplies from Karnataka. “Slaughtered meat was being brought into Goa from Karnataka by observing all the norms. Similarly, live cattle was transported into Goa by complying with the High Court directions, even though attempts were made in the past to release the cattle at the Anmod Ghat and Khanapur in Karnataka,” he said.
Abdulmatin Carol pointed out that while the Bill has banned slaughter of any type of cattle, the Bill does not affect the slaughter of cattle in the Abattoirs in Karnataka meant for the export of beef meat.
