In a popular television debate, it was clearly pointed out that on one hand the government is banning eating and possessing beef, while on the other hand it is said to be a major exporter of beef. How do you view this situation? No one will deny that milk producing cows must not be slaughtered. The government has not taken a right step by banning beef. The livelihood of over a million people directly or indirectly engaged in the beef trade and allied industry has been adversely affected by the ban on beef in the state. The ban also has resulted into hike in prices of other items like mutton, chicken and fish.
The act will cause problems to farmers whose animals have become too old or cannot be used for farming purpose. The new legislation will also affect Maharashtra’s agriculture economy. Farmers will now have to feed the old animals until their death as they will have to incur an additional expenditure of 6,000 per animal. They will now abandon old animals at faraway places where they may die. They will also be compelled to sell their animals at very low prices and the middlemen will slaughter it in villages, so that the police or authorities cannot catch them. The government decision will encourage smuggling of beef. One can already see that stray cows are starving and often search for empty plastic bags for food. The government must not interfere with people’s food habits. People must be allowed to decide what they want to eat.
The government must make provision for grazing grounds and ponds for cattle to eat and drink water. How many ponds existed earlier and how many are surviving now? How will the cows, crows, pigeons and sparrows quench their thirst? Are we bothered about these aspects?
Peaceful co-existence with nature constitutes quality of life. Often it has been observed that the compensation offered by the government never reaches farmers as they have to face financial problems forcing them to commit suicide due to crop failure. The other day, I had mentioned that compensation money must reach the district magistrate directly. Later it must be forwarded to the village administration for disbursement according to the needs of farmers. There must be an effective mechanism to monitor whether farmers are able to avail subsidies. The Modi government must try to fulfill the promises made by it otherwise people will lose their confidence in the government.