Meat sellers in Noida, Ghaziabad seek permission to run shops

NOIDA: A group of meat traders on Thursday protested outside the city magistrate's office in Sector 19 demanding a review of the decision to close meat shops in the district.

Backed by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the traders said that the recent crackdown has affected the livelihood of hundreds of people involved in the business. Last week, the food safety and drug administration (FSDA) department had said that all meat shops in the district were running illegally as shop owners had not obtained licences.

The traders protested for nearly one hour and demanded that the administration set up a government owned slaughterhouse and grant permission to traders to sell meat. "Since the new government came to power, the Noida police shut down many shops. Some meat traders shut down shops on their own fearing threat and intimidation. Our livelihood is at stake. This has created a serious issue. Most of us have been rendered jobless," said Mateen Quraishi, a meat shopkeeper.

The protesters said that due to the atmosphere of fear, chicken and fish shops have also vanished. The shops located in villages like Chowda, Nithari, Barolla, Sadarpur, etc are also facing the same problem. The traders submitted a memorandum to the officials of Noida Authority and the district magistrate via the city magistrate.

Ramanuj Singh, city magistrate, Noida said that some meat shop owners had met him over the issue. "There is no licenced slaughterhouse in Noida. We will talk to the senior officials of Noida authority and administration and issue licences to sell fish, chicken, etc," he said

In Ghaziabad, the district administration officials said that nearly 50 persons have applied for licences over the past few days following the crackdown .

"They have deposited the requisite fees with the district administration against challans after applying online on the website of Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The documents required from the applicants in original will have to be submitted within 15 days of having filled in the application forms online. The documents will be examined by the Food Safety Officer of the district who will decide on the selection of licences on the basis of eligibility conditions fulfilled. After obtaining a no-objection certificate from the administration, the applicants have to apply to other departments including the local municipal bodies," district magistrate Nidhi Kesarwani told TOI.

According to the food safety department, licence holders will have to adhere to a detailed set of guidelines that are contained in Schedule IV of FSSAI. "For practical purposes, we are also preparing a list of the guidelines in layman's language in Hindi," chief food inspector, Dr Ajay Jaiswal, told TOI.