Restaurants, shops to mention about 'halal', 'jhatka' cut meat: South Delhi civic body

Therefore, the committee resolves that this direction be given to restaurants and meat shops that it should be written mandatorily about the meat being sold and served by themthat halal or jhatka meat is available here.Standing Committee Chairman Rajdutt Gahlot had earlier said, At present, while getting a licence made, owners take a licence for selling one type of meat, and then start selling the other one too.Also, the idea was to let a consumer know about the kind of meat being served to him or her and make an informed choice, Gahlot had said.

The BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation has cleared a proposal that will now make it mandatory for restaurants and shops in south Delhi to display whether the meat being sold or served is cut using the ''halal'' or ''jhatka'' method, officials said on Thursday.

The proposal was earlier cleared by the Standing Committee of the SDMC on December 24.

A senior official of the SDMC said the House gave a nod to it in its special meeting on Wednesday.

South Delhi has a number of eateries, restaurants and streetside shops selling or serving non-vegetarian food items, prominent places being markets at Defence Colony, Amar Colony, Sarojini Nagar, South Extension, and INA.

Officials said restaurants and meat shops will have to ''display clearly and visibly'' whether they are serving ''halal'' or ''jhatka''.

''Jhatka'' method is one in which an animal is slaughtered in one go, while in the ''halal'' method, an animal is allowed to die after cutting a vein.

The resolution passed by the SDMC panel had read, ''There are thousands of restaurants in 104 wards of four zones falling under South Delhi Municipal Corporation. Out of these meat is served in about 90 per cent of restaurants but it is not mentioned whether the meat being served by the restaurants is halal or jhatka''.

Similarly, the meat shops also do not make the distinction, it had said.

The resolution further said, ''According to Hinduism and Sikhism, eating halal meat is forbidden and against religion... Therefore, the committee resolves that this direction be given to restaurants and meat shops that it should be written mandatorily about the meat being sold and served by them…that halal or jhatka meat is available here''.

Standing Committee Chairman Rajdutt Gahlot had earlier said, ''At present, while getting a licence made, owners take a licence for selling one type of meat, and then start selling the other one too''.

Also, the idea was to let a consumer know about the kind of meat being served to him or her and make an informed choice, Gahlot had said. The resolution in the Standing Committee was moved by Chhattarpur councillor Anita Tanwar.

Irshad Kureshi, general secretary, Delhi Meat Merchants Association, an umbrella body of 6,000 licensed meat shops in Delhi, on Thursday said, ''The move seems like a way of diverting attention from other more important issues''.

Meat shops have always been displaying what meat they have been selling, in compliance with the MCD byelaws of 1957. The authorities are needlessly making an issue out of this, he said.

''While restaurants don't display it, customers always check if they have a preference... It is like asking a restaurant to display whether they also serve vegetarian food. A vegetarian person will enquire about the menu according to his or her preference,'' Kureshi rued.

The National Restaurant Association Of India issued a statement, saying menus offered at restaurants are primarily based on consumer preferences, demands and their availability thereof. ''Restaurants will continue to follow this successful time-tested formula,'' it said.

As per the new policy, the restaurants should display the type of meat being served proactively and not wait for the customers to ask, the association said.

''Without getting into the merits or rationale behind this decision, we don't foresee any significant changes in the consumption pattern of the customers due to this. However, in case there are significant changes in demand of consumers, the restaurants will adapt to it, like they do with any other consumer preferences, subject to the availability of what consumers are seeking,'' the statement said.

Joy Singh, a partner in Yeti chain of restaurants and co-founder of Raasta restaurant in south Delhi had termed the move earlier as a very ''sad and regressive approach''.

In 2017, the SDMC had proposed that meat and its products were not to be displayed in the open, citing that hygiene and ''sentiments of people affected by the sight'' of meat were the main reasons behind the move. The move was not implemented after protests from shop-owners.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)