DEHRADUN: In a unique initiative, the Uttarakhand government has decided to promote meat products of the hilly areas and will now home deliver mutton sourced from the hills or ‘pahadi’ goats and fish from the rivers up in the Himalayas.
Minister of animal husbandry and pisciculture, Rekha Arya, who launched the initiative on Wednesday, said: "The step will help create a brand of Uttarakhand and help locals. This will create opportunities to earn more and empower our people as well as women from the hills."
At present, the initiative has been launched only in Dehradun district but will soon kick off be in other districts such as Nainital and US Nagar.
The initiative titled 'Bakraw' for mutton of pahadi goats and 'Uttarafish' has come after about a month of Arya announcing the move to introduce Trout fish from Denmark in the waters of the state.
Traditionally, Himalayan goat rearing and Trout cultivation in the state was done by the women associated with cooperative societies and now they have formed a cooperative federation that to supply both the goat meat and fish under these initiatives.
Officials also added that plans are afoot to expand the initiative on a larger scale to brand the goat meat and fish to sell it outside the state and even to foreign countries.
Kirankant Sharma, a resident of Dehradun commenting on the development said, "The initiative sounds good but the catch will be in the implementation. If implemented properly, the scheme can generate employment on different levels and all stakeholders involved can benefit right from the farmer to the delivery person and the customer."