In clarification, BJP leaders say that cow slaughter has been banned in MP since 2004. Which beef the Congress is talking about is beyond understanding.
Politics over beef?
Recently, the central government has implemented new GST rates. The GST slabs of 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28% have been reduced to two. Now only the 5% and 18% slabs are effective.
Some items like chhena, paneer, roti, chapati, paratha have been made tax-free, meaning there is zero percent GST on these products. The new rates have been implemented since September 22.
On the day the new GST rates came into effect, on the same day, the state and central governments issued notifications regarding the new GST rates. One of these notifications was related to the sale of meat from bovine species.
It mentioned making the meat of bovine species tax-free. The state government had issued this notification on September 18. It was written below that it would be effective from September 22.
As soon as this notification was issued, Congress state president Jitu Patwari made it an issue.
‘’According to the notification issued by the state government, GST on cow meat has been made zero percent. Discounts are given on products that need to be sold more. This shows the government's thinking.’’ -Jitu Patwari said.
When Congress raised this issue, a reaction also came from the BJP. BJP President Hemant Khandelwal said –‘’This notification has no meaning for Madhya Pradesh, because cow slaughter is prohibited here’’.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, addressing a public meeting in Katangi, Balaghat, said –‘’We cannot even think of cow slaughter’’.
Our belief is that 33 crore gods and goddesses reside in the cow, but Congressmen have nothing to do with mother cow. Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav said, 'Forget about slaughtering mother cow, if anyone even troubles her, they will be put in jail in our government. There are strict laws in the state.'
When cow smugglers are caught, Congressmen scream 'oh my, oh my'. In reality, Congress has nothing to do with 'Gau Mata' (Mother Cow)- The Chief Minister said.
Truth-
GST expert Mukul Sharma says that GST was not effective on chilled and raw meat even before. GST is not applicable not only on the meat of bovine animals but also on the meat of other species of animals.
According to the GST schedule, no tax will be levied on bovine species (meat of bovine animal) like bull, goat, sheep. This is for chilled and fresh meat. Processed meat has a 5 percent tax. There is no tax on animals and meat within the country. Only the sale of horses has a 5 percent tax.
1200 buffaloes are slaughtered daily The state's only modern slaughterhouse located in Jinsi has the capacity to slaughter 500 animals daily. Currently, 70 to 80 animals arrive here. Cows are not included. Only animals of the buffalo category are brought. Additionally, more than 200 buffaloes are illegally slaughtered in Bhopal. However, illegal slaughterhouses are gradually closing down.
Qureshi states that more than 1200 animals are slaughtered daily in all slaughterhouses in Madhya Pradesh. All this meat is supplied locally. According to demand, it is sometimes supplied to other states like Goa, Mumbai, and Delhi.
An average of 100 kg of meat is obtained from one buffalo Qureshi says that there are 800 licensed shops across Madhya Pradesh, and from those very shops, this meat is supplied at the local level. The rest goes to other states. Qureshi says that he has been in this business for a long time, but since independence, no tax has ever been levied on fresh and chilled meat in the country. There is only a provision for 5 percent tax on frozen meat.
Qureshi says that even though buffalo meat is not exported from Madhya Pradesh, buffalo meat worth 50 thousand crore rupees is exported from other states of the country. Many companies are in this business. There is good demand for it in other countries.
Shahjama Khan, who works at Jinasi Slaughter House, says- I have been working in the slaughterhouse for 25 years. I have never seen cows here. Only black animals, meaning buffaloes, are brought. They are also first examined by a veterinarian, only after which they come for slaughter.
According to the economic survey, the total meat production in the year 2023-24 was 152.25 thousand tons. This was 9.57 percent more compared to 2022-23. In 2023-24, the per capita availability of meat was 1.72 kilograms. Poultry farming has the highest contribution to meat production.
42 percent of the meat is from chicken and 28 percent is from goat meat. However, there is no mention of buffalo meat in the economic survey. This means that chicken and goat contribute 70 percent to the total meat production. On this basis, it can be said that the remaining 30 percent of meat production might be related to the buffalo category.
Budget for cattle maintenance
Talking about the total expenditure on a cow in Madhya Pradesh, the expenditure on a cow is 40 rupees per day.
This amount has been increased from 20 rupees to 40 rupees. Of this, 25 rupees is spent on cow fodder, 10 rupees on feed, and 5 rupees on manpower.
For the maintenance of cattle, there was a budget of 90 crore rupees until 2 years ago, which has now been increased to 250 crore rupees.
In this financial year, it has been increased to 600 crore rupees. An amount of 50 crore rupees is transferred every month to the accounts of the registered cowshed committees of the state.
According to the MP Cow Protection Board, about 2900 cowsheds are registered, in which approximately 4 lakh 25 thousand cows reside. Among these, 2203 cowsheds are being operated by Gram Panchayats under the Chief Minister's Goseva Yojana in rural areas.
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