Rajkot: The Rajkot Municipal Corporation on November 9 decided to ban the sale of non-vegetarian food on public roads. Mayor Dr Pradeep Dav stated that selling non-vegetarian food on the streets is hurting the religious sentiments of citizens. Soon Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar and Junagadh Municipal Corporations to follow suit, said sources.
Even state capital Gandhinagar may also ban selling of non-vegetarian food on roads in near future since a survey has been conducted to check the number of food stalls selling non-veg food items, add sources.
Meanwhile, Rajkot Mayor Dr Pradeep Dav told ETV Bharat, "carts with non-vegetarian food can be seen everywhere in the city. The religious sentiments of the people are hurt by this. Based on it, a decision has been taken."
He further said that vendors selling non-veg food would be allotted space away from religious places and in city outskirts.
Supporting his view, Bhavnagar Standing committee chairman Dhirubhai Dhamelia said that "Stalls selling eggs, fish, meat or mutton in public places like roads, gardens, lakes or main roads, will be removed considering the religious sentiments of people. FIR will be filed against those found violating this decision."
Vadodara Deputy Mayor Nandaben Joshi adds another point. "Based on the complaints by women and children that their eyes are itching while passing by non-veg food stalls, the Mayor has decided to convene a meeting with ward offices to start the practice of covering food with proper hygiene".
Also read: Civic Body in Gujarat asks food stalls to 'cover-up' non-veg food
Meanwhile, Gujarat Congress has slammed the BJP government over the decision. Reacting to the issue, Gujarat Congress state president Amit Chavda said that the BJP has been ruling Gujarat for 25 years and has been in power in the Corporations as well. He said that there is a rise in unemployment and instead of giving employment to the youth, the BJP is just coming up with big advertisements.
Chavda alleged that now that the youth are running their own stalls to earn their livelihood, it seems to have curbed the "Gundaraj and Haftaraj" and therefore these small vendors are being evicted.
"For the BJP, extortion is a big earner. A large amount is collected from these vendors. In fact, they are forced to shell out money. It seems BJP wants to increase the extortion amount from these vendors. Under the BJP rule, it is clear who is running the slaughterhouses in the metros of Gujarat. People in Gujarat are looking for employment, but BJP is trying to divert attention by targeting small vendors." he added.
(With Agency Inputs)
