Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the state would not restrict beef imports from neighbouring Karnataka to avoid a supply shortage in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s announcement comes at a time when most governments run by the party across the country are cracking down on the sale of beef.
At least 30% of the state’s population eats beef, IANS reported. “We have not closed the option of getting meat from Belagavi to ensure that there is no shortage,” the chief minister told members of the state Legislative Assembly. Parrikar was replying to a query posed by his party colleague, Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral.
Parrikar said the state’s sole legal abattoir, the Goa meat complex, supplied around 2,000 kilos of beef every day. “The rest [of the demand] is met by Karnataka,” Parrikar said. He said the cattle would be examined by authorised doctors.
“The government does not have any intention to restrict the entry of animals for slaughter at the Goa Meat Complex from neighbouring state,” he said.
On July 11, the Supreme Court had stayed the central government’s notification banning the sale of cattle for slaughter at markets across the country. The top court had said that people’s livelihoods could not be “subjected to uncertainties” because of the ban.
The Union government had earlier said the notification did not amount to a beef ban, as was reported, and that it was open to suggestions on it.
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