Srinagar, Oct 15: All Kashmir Wholesale Mutton Dealers Association has expressed serious concern over what it said the “illegal supply” of meat to the Valley.
 Association’s General Secretary Mehraj ud Din told Greater Kashmir that a huge quantity of mutton was being supplied to Kashmir “illegally” by people who were not actually the licence holders.
 However, he also blamed some “inactive” license holders who according to him were ‘letting out’ their licences to people not related to this field to procure sheep from outside the state.
 “It is disgusting that certain licence holders have been allowing their licences to be used against consideration by people not related to this trade,” he said.
 He said the association had drafted and submitted some proposals to the government so that this practice is checked and “genuine” dealers “saved”.
 He said besides hitting the interests of the common consumers, the “illegal supply” of sheep to the Valley had affected the “genuine” and “real” mutton dealers here.
 “We have time and again raised this issue with the government, yet no heed has been given to our pleas,” he said.
 He alleged that the government had failed to check the “illegal supply” of mutton. “Even the authorities are not able to enforce uniform rates of the meat in the market,” he said.
 Din blamed the people importing sheep by using “inactive” dealers’ licenses for purchasing the mutton at higher rates in outside mandis.
 “We are a limited number of people having licences to import the sheep. If unlicensed people who offer higher rates at the outside mandis and pass the burden on the common consumers don’t get into this field, we can see to it that commission agents are cut to their size and not allowed to exploit us.”
 He said the government had issued the mutton rates at Rs 220/kg for wholesale and Rs 240/kg retail but the rates were not implemented on the ground.
 “This is because of the illegal supply,” he said.
 He appealed the government to check the practice of “illegal supply” and cancel the license of the dealers who have become “inactive.”
 He alleged that about 170 licences were being misused as their holders were “inactive”.
 He suggested that all the licence holders should be brought under scanner so that the practice of “misuse” of licenses is checked.
 He alleged that the commission agents in Delhi, who he said are mostly Kashmiris, were damaging their business.
 “They increase the rates of mutton and mostly supply it to non-license holders,” he said, adding that there should be a check on the commission agents.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST