PANAJI: Goa Forward Party, an alliance partner of the ruling BJP, today said the Centre's notification on sale and purchase of cattle for slaughtering may lead the farmers and meat traders to penury.
The new rules notified recently by the Union environment ministry ban the sale or purchase of bulls, cows, camels for slaughter houses or for sacrifice for religious purpose.
"I am not happy with the new rules. The new rules can lead the farmers and meat traders to penury and affect the leather and hospitality industry," GFP leader Vijai Sardesai, who is also Goa's agriculture minister, told reporters in Margao.
Sardesai said the rules were formulated haphazardly.
However, he was quick enough to add that "this is the opinion of Goa Forward Party and should not be considered as that of the government."
The Centre recently banned the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter.
The environment ministry notified the stringent Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Sardesai ruled out that the notification has resulted in beef shortage in the state, as reported in a section of media, and instead blamed the "market forces" for trying to take advantage of the situation.
"One day there is beef shortage in Goa and another day there is enough supply. There is a possibility that some market forces are playing a role in it. Someone is trying to increase the rate of beef in guise of the recent developments," he said.
The meat selling community in the state has expressed fears that the Centre's notification may lead to shortage pf beef. However, the state-run Goa Meat Complex Limited (GMCL) has ruled out any such crisis.