50,000 chicken sold everyday in Srinagar alone: Minister

Srinagar, Dec 26: Jammu and Kashmir Government has recommended the Centre to remove chicken and meat from the list of essential commodities, minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Taj Mohiuddin said.

Participating in a Doordarshan programme here last evening, Mr Taj said about 50,000 chicken are being sold in the Srinagar city alone everyday.

Similarly thousands of kg of meat is also being sold everyday in the city limits, he said.

Mr Taj said majority of the chicken and meat is being imported from different cities of the country as local production was not enough to meet the requirement.

He said chicken and meat is not an essential commodity as only those who can afford it can buy it.

''We have recommended the Centre to remove chicken and meat from the list of essential commodities'', he said adding that he fail to understand why these items were included in the list of essential commodities in the past.

He said an ordinary person cannot afford chicken and meat.

When a questioner asked why his department was not keeping any check on prices of chicken and meat, Mr Taj said it was not possible to keep a check on every shopkeeper in the city as 50,000 chicken are being sold everyday from hundreds of outlets.

There could be some shopkeepers charging Rs four or Rs five more which hardly matters, he said adding the main thing is the availability of chicken and meat, which we are maintaining.

UNI