Srinagar: Kashmir’s mutton crisis stands resolved after the Punjab government revoked the levy imposed on vehicles transporting livestock through the state, following the intervention of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
All Kashmir Wholesale and Retail Mutton Dealers Association president Khazir Mohammad Regoo announced on Friday that the dispute over the alleged “illegal” levy imposed on Kashmiri meat traders has been resolved.
Kashmir had been facing an acute shortage of mutton ever since the Punjab government imposed a 4 per cent tax on vehicles carrying livestock through the state.
“The matter has been resolved after the Punjab authorities revoked the levy,” Regoo said.
He said the association had formed a coordination committee that camped in Punjab and took up the issue with the government there.
“Members of the coordination committee were in Punjab for the last 10 days. They met several people in the Punjab government. Thank God, the government there understood that it was an illegal tax and revoked it,” he said, expressing gratitude to political leaders, people, and media for their support.
Kashmiri traders had raised the issue with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as well as other political leaders in the Valley.
Abdullah on Monday said he has taken up the concerns of mutton dealers with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, and sought his intervention.
Abdullah had informed Mann that livestock-laden vehicles bound for Jammu and Kashmir were allegedly being stopped by certain contractor groups operating in connection with cattle fairs, and subjected to unauthorised fee collection, despite carrying all valid permits and requisite documentation.
“I have taken up this issue with the Punjab government, seeking immediate intervention to ensure unhindered movement of livestock transport vehicles through Punjab,” Abdullah had said.
“They are just using the highway. There is no justification for unauthorised levies being imposed on mutton dealers from Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
The chief minister also posted on social media a letter he had written to Mann last week.
In the letter, he told Mann that such disruptions not only caused avoidable delays, but also financial losses and hardship to transporters, adversely affecting animal welfare.
The chief minister said the matter was being examined by the Kashmir Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs through an internal committee.
“The findings indicate that transporters are reportedly being compelled to make substantial payments per vehicle during transit without any apparent legal sanction. The committee has further observed that livestock movement is exempt from GST and that the continued imposition of such charges is placing an additional burden on the livestock trade, with consequential impact on meat prices and consumers in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
Abdullah reminded Mann that Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir share longstanding bonds of friendship, cooperation and economic interdependence.
“Any such practices, if found to be occurring, are inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that has traditionally characterised relations between us and have understandably caused concern among the trading community,” the letter read.
