Restaurants are allowed to serve stored non-veg food.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Following a decision by the Maharashtra government to ban meat during a whole week ahead of Jain and Hindu festivals, here comes a similar move from the Rajasthan government, which has banned slaughter and sale of meat and fish on September 17, 18 and 27 in the state.
Jains celebrate “Samvatsari” for eight days beginning from September 27 and “Paryushan”, a festival of forgiveness, beginning from September 18. Meanwhile, “Anant Chaturdashi” is celebrated both by Hindus and Jains on September 27.
Rajasthan’s directorate of local bodies issued the ban on meat and fish slaughter on August 18.
The order has directed all district collectors and commissioners, officers of municipal bodies to ensure that abattoirs and fish/meat shops in the state remain shut on the above said days. The directorate has exempted sales of eggs from the ban. Local bodies in Rajasthan impose this ban every year during Jain festivals.
While slaughter for meat is banned during the festivals, hotels and restaurants are allowed to serve non vegetarian food that is stored in deep-freezers.
“The order’s purpose is to prevent slaughtering or killing of animals on the particular festive days. Hotels/restaurants can serve non-veg food from their deep-freezers on these days”, Ashok Kumar Singh, DLB director (law), said.
The directorate of local bodies had earlier added liquor to the list of banned items. However, later it issued an amended order dropping the liquor ban, which seems to be beyond its jurisdiction.