After 10 months of protests, hundreds of meat shop owners started selling mutton in the Kashmir Valley on Thursday only after running into losses of more than ₹ 800 crore due to the strike on the fixation of new prices.
“The apathy of the Jammu and Kashmir administration dragged the issue for about 10 months. The provision for fixing prices at least twice a year was pending for the last four years. Ultimately, we are considering the agreed prices due to the upcoming Ramadan, ”said Khazir Muhammad Regu, president of the Retail Mutton Dealers Association, Hindu.
The government has re-priced at fixed 490 with no price and 535 per kg and offal. According to Mr. Regu, about 35,000 families depend on mutton sales.
“Families associated with the administration have suffered a lot in the last 10 months due to improper administration. Meat worth 4.5 crore to ₹ 5 crore is consumed every day in the valley. People were forced to buy from the black market but sell only. Hovered around 1 crore. The number of trucks carrying sheep in the valley was reduced by 90%, ”he said.
In the last five months, hundreds of shops in the valley, where meat is an essential part of the staple diet during the cold season, remained closed. “Many locals canceled marriages and functions due to non-availability of meat,” said Nazir Ahmed, the owner of a meat shop in the old city.
According to an estimate, people in the Kashmir Valley consume around 51,000 tonnes of mutton a year.
The crisis deepened despite two separate committees to the government by traders’ bodies and mutton dealers in the valley in December to survey J&K, the outer area of the sheep market, to end the deadlock.
The 15-member committee, comprising journalists, businessmen, industrialists and stakeholders, visited Delhi, Amritsar, Ambala, Sekar Rajasthan and other markets to review the prices of sheep and goats. The government committee also visited Sekar Rajasthan and Delhi. But the report filed by the committees failed to end the deadlock as mutton dealers were eyeing ₹ 600 per kg.
Farooq Ahmed Dar of the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA), who was negotiating the price with the government, said it was in the interest of the people that “mutton shops have reopened in Kashmir”.
Director Food Civil Supplies Bashir Ahmad Khan on Thursday warned of action against mutton dealers, defying the prices set by the administration.
“Retail mutton dealers are directed to display the rate list in their shops and strictly follow the rate list issued by the government and if any violates the rate list, others including underweight, poor quality etc. Violations will be made. To be dealt with strictly as per the law, including filing an FIR and sealing its shops as required, ”said Mr. Dar.
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