Gurgaon:Obtain licences or shut shops, MCG tells meat sellers

The city has nearly 520 meat shops and the MCG has found only 25 shops fit for selling meat. The MCG said it has received applications from some owners and these were under consideration.

The city’s over 500 meat shops are now under threat of being shut down by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for running unauthorised operations.

Meat market near Jama Masjid, in Gurgaon. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The city has nearly 520 meat shops and the MCG has found only 25 shops fit for selling meat. The MCG said it has received applications from some owners and these were under consideration.

An MCG official said the licence would mean that shops are hygienic and meet all conditions set to sell meat as compared to those shops running in contravention of the norms laid down by the MCG.

In a city such as Gurgaon, with a population of over 25 lakh, 25 shops are too few to meet the daily requirement. The demand to issue licences to more shops and seal unauthorized shops has been raised from time to time.

“We inspect shops to ensure that proper and hygienic equipment are used to chop meat, utensils are clean and the shop have adequate refrigerators to store meat products. If the shop fulfils all criteria, we issue the owner a licence,” said Ashish Singla, medical officer (MO) MCG.

After obtaining the licence, shop owners will have to display the certification prominently at their shop, with remarks such as “jhatka” and halal, the medical officer said.

“The licence is only to sell meat. It does not give permission to slaughter goats and chicken. The shop owners would also have to display details of the abattoir from where the meat was procured,” Singla said, adding that Ghazipur in Delhi is the only source from where meat can be procured.

On Sunday, during the district grievance redressal meeting, chaired by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the issue of unauthorised shops selling meat was raised to bring to the notice of the CM the negligence of the MCG in handling such a sensitive issue.

According to the medical officer, every animal is medically tested at the abattoir before slaughter to ensure hygiene.

In March, a group claiming to be from Shiv Sena has forced meat shops to down shutters for Navratri and also demanded that meat shops be kept closed every Tuesday. A number of meat shopkeepers have shut shops since then and are waiting for valid licences.