The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has formed 35 dedicated teams to ensure all meat shops in the city remain closed between August 24 and September 1, during the Jain festival Paryushan Parv this year, officials said on Wednesday.
On July 20, the Haryana Urban Local Bodies (ULB), in a first, directed all municipal corporations in the state to implement the orders, failing which, operators would face strict action. MCG officials said, adding that people from the Jain community celebrate the “auspicious festival for nine days every year”.
“It is informed by Shri SP Jain, president of SS Jain Mahasabha, Haryana, that Paryushan Parv will be celebrated across the state from 24.08.2022 to 01.09.2022. In this regard… request you (all municipal commissioners and deputy commissioners) that all the slaughterhouses/meat shops should remain closed from 24.08.2022 to 01.09.2022 during Paryushan Parv,” the ULB order said.
On July 29, the MCG released an order with the same directions, officials said, adding that the ULB’s order will affect 130 licensed meat shops in the city.
MCG, however, said that “it is still awaiting clarity from the ULB about the operation of online delivery stores” across Gurugram. It is likely that “online delivery stores will operate normally”, MCG officials said.
Vijaypal Yadav, joint commissioner of MCG, said that the 35 teams, comprising four members each, will be deployed across as many municipal wards in the city, adding that anyone found violating the order will have to pay a penalty of ₹5,000.
The selling of meat has been a major issue in Gurugram for the past decade. There have been several incidents of members of right-wing outfits closing meat shops forcibly during the Navratri festival, which too, spans nine nights. In March 2021, MCG, during a House meeting, decided to close operations of all meat shops across the city on all Tuesdays, citing religious beliefs.
Meat shop owners and associations, meanwhile, said that they have not received an official notice, but will abide by the directions. “According to a clause in the MCG meat licence, the civic body reserves the right to close shops on particular days. So, we will close our shops,” a meat shop owner said.
