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Unauthorised meat shops: How officials 'solved' problem of own making in Ggm

Unauthorised meat shops: How officials solved problem of own making in Ggm
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Gurugram: While a recent decision of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram has now forced all meat shops in the city to be shuttered every Tuesday, a careful study of civic regulations around the registration of meat shops in the city showed that authorities had, with this decision, "solved" the problem of unauthorised meat shops in residential areas — one that was a direct result of poor licensing regulations of the MCG.

A major reason for the sprouting of illegal meat shops all around the city is delay and inefficiencies in issuing licenses to meat shops to operate which in turn resulted in meat shops operating illegally.

Formed in the year 2008, it took MCG ten years before it began to issue licenses to meat shops. Moreover, MCG has also been extremely ineffective in preventing the sprouting of illegal meat shops in Gurugram. According to Section 338 of the Municipal Corporation Act, MCG can levy a fine of only Rs 500 from a meat shop that is operating illegally. The amendments to increase the fine lie with the Haryana Government. According to MCG officials, a letter was written to the Haryana Government seeking an increase in fine in 2019 but there was no response by the state government officials who are based in Chandigarh.

In the last four to five years, certain fringe religious groups have often used several means of harassing meat shop owners for either not adhering to hygienic, social or religious norms. The influence of these fringe outfits often grows during Navratri when in the context of religious grounds, meat shops are often forced to remain shuttered for all nine days of the Hindu festival.

"The problem of illegal meat shops in Gurugram exists because the public agencies have ensured they continue to grow with no action being taken against them. It suits the interests of certain people financially and politically to direct citizens' anger on this issue on those meat shop owners who are following all norms and rules to harass and bully them. Food is an individual choice and it should be left to citizens whether they should purchase meat or chicken on Tuesday or not," one meat shop owner told Millennium Post, requesting that he remain anonymous.

On March 18, the issue of illegal meat shops was again brought up by councillors. They said these shops were now coming up in residential areas and without the required garbage disposal regulations in place, they often dispose of waste near homes.

In this discussion, a bylaw was subsequently invoked to decide that all meat shops be closed on Tuesdays. However, regulations for waste disposal were left untouched.

In the same meeting, license fees for meat shops were doubled to Rs 10,000 per year.

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