The supply of 1.3 crore cattle will be ensured for the coming Qurbani, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Md Abdur Rahman has said.
He said this at a press briefing at the Secretariat on Sunday (28 April).
The minister said that last year, at Eid-ul-Azha, 1.25 crore cattle came to market, of which 19 lakh went unsold. This time arrangements have been made for more than 1.3 crore cattle for Qurbani.
No shortage, no imports
"The festival is approaching. At this time opportunist groups and schemers try to take the whole matter in another direction. We are fully prepared for the coming Qurbani Eid. There is no shortage of cattle of any kind," he said.
Abdur Rahman said the ministry was preparing well in advance and with great care against the excesses of middlemen. To keep the cattle market stable and prices within people's means, it had held preparatory talks with farmers.
"We have assured them (the farmers) that there is no reason to import cattle. We have no decision to import cattle. Farmers in our country raise cattle, and our ministry also has initiatives; that is enough. There is no shortfall. Our arrangements and management are all in order," the livestock minister said.
"We have arrangements and preparations in place so that the market does not become unstable," he added.
Extortion on cattle trucks
Asked what steps would be taken to stop extortion from vehicles carrying sacrificial animals, the minister said middlemen and a certain class of people take advantage at that time, which often makes the situation hard to handle. "Before Qurbani we will hold an inter-ministerial meeting to decide how this can be properly addressed, so that we can keep extortion along the roads and at the ghats, and the dominance of middlemen, under control," he said.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
Comments
(0)