UP: Government Bans Liquor and Meat In Ayodhya
Ban on liquor and meat in Ayodhya for sanctity reasons leads to job loss and trade disruption, sparking petitions and livelihood concerns.
The Uttar Pradesh government has imposed a ban on liquor in Ayodhya, the holy city where the Ram Temple is set to be inaugurated soon. There are about 500 establishments in the area where liquor is sold and served. More than 15,000 workers employed as waiters, cooks and cleaners with these bars, restaurants and liquor shops will be left jobless after this decision comes into effect from next week. UP Excise and Prohibition Minister Nitin Agarwal said, "It was our decision as per the instructions by CM that we prohibit liquor sale on the 84 Kosi Parikrama Marg. The area has been declared as a 'no liquor zone'. We have shifted the shops allotted there and we have completely prohibited liquor sale on that Marg. It's a 150-175 km long road so we have shifted all the shops to other places." The decision to ban liquor in the holy city of Ayodhya dates back to 2018 when the Yogi Adityanath government renamed the Faizabad district as Ayodhya. Following this, seers and sadhus in the area demanded a ban on alcohol as well as meat to ‘preserve the sanctity of the place’. According to reports, meat sale has also been banned in the adjoining areas of the temple. Some meat vendors said, “We respect the sentiments of other faiths and are ready to cooperate with the administration, but banning meat 15 km from the radius of the temple does not make sense to us. Ban within five 6-7 km of the temple premises, but such a complete ban in the whole city will destroy the livelihood of more than 500 families who are solely dependent on this trade for several generations. They majorly supply meat to CRPF camp and Army headquarters. Therefore, one of them named Irfan filed a writ petition in Lucknow High Court for stay on the ban of meat selling in the city last month. He said that at least 90% of those involved in meat trading are Muslims and 90% of meat consumers, especially mutton, belong to the Hindu community. Therefore, while it is a loss for both the communities, only Muslims are at the receiving end. According to the reports, the only alternative meat sellers have been given by the Food Security and Drug Administration department as of now is to sell packaged frozen meat that will directly come from Punjab. However, the meat shop owners also claim that following food security norms like automatic door closers,tiled walls, black mirror facade to hide meat, refrigerated transportation, geyser installation and vendor’s medical fitness certificate are tough & expensive to implement for running a frozen meat shop. One of the meat shop owners who earns approx. ?1,000/- a day said “It will cost around Rs 2 lakh to maintain the shop. Why would anyone spend such a huge amount in a rented shop? Besides, Rs 50 thousand will have to be paid separately for the license to run a frozen meat shop."
