No meat shop within 150 metres of religious place in Delhi

New Delhi: A meat shop license policy that also restricts the opening of a meat shop within 150 metres of a religious place was passed by the MCD House on Tuesday.

The policy mandates that the minimum distance between a meat shop and a religious place or a cremation ground should not be less than 150 metres.

The MCD will not take into consideration the distance between the shop and a religious place if the place of worship comes into existence after the grant of the license, the proposal tabled in the House stated.

However, it allows the opening of a meat shop selling approved species around a mosque, except pork, if the applicant obtains a ‘no objection certificate’ from the masjid committe or imam.

This policy has been opposed by the Delhi Meat Merchants Association stating that it will lead to “corruption”.

“Why would an illegal shop owner who finds it difficult to pay even Rs 2,700 will now pay Rs 7,000 as renewal charges, if he can manage by paying a little amount to the local police? This will actually cause a huge loss in revenue to the MCD and also lead to corruption,” an official of the association said.

The association said that it will take the matter to the court if the policy is not rolled back and threatened to stage a demonstration at the MCD.

According to the policy, the distance between the meat shop and a religious place will be measured through the public pathway or roads only.

The policy for granting new or renewed licenses for meat shops in the jurisdiction of the MCD will come into effect after the issuance of notification by the Department of Veterinary Services and will replace all other existing policies.

It has been approved keeping in mind the sentiments of people visiting the religious places, according to the tabled agenda.

The policy has fixed the fees for issuing and renewal of licenses for meat shops across MCD’s erstwhile north, south and east corporations to up to Rs 18,000 for shops and Rs 1.5 lakh for processing units.

All the fees and penalties shall be increased by 15 per cent after every three financial years from the date of grant of license, it added.

The minimum size allowed for a meat shop in a residential area is 20 square metres as per the Delhi Mater Plan 2021, while there will be no restriction on the size of shops in commercial areas.

In the case of meat processing plants, the mandated minimum size is 150 square metres.