Harish Rawat calls for improving municipal slaughterhouses in semi-urban, rural areas

New Delhi, June 7 (ANI): Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Harish Rawat today called for improving the municipal slaughterhouses located in semi-urban areas numbering 3500.

Addressing the inaugural session of National Conference for Mayors here, Rawat said: "The real challenge is to improve the other municipal slaughterhouses located in semi-urban areas numbering 3500 and also for establishing mini slaughterhouses in rural areas were more than 80 per cent of the countries population is living and are lacking sufficient funds for investment to improve the existing conditions."

Rawat said that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has a scheme to give grants for construction and modernization of slaughterhouses in such cases.

He further said now in the era of Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM), municipal corporations of metro cities and big cities have sufficient funds and have understood the basic need for improving the existing conditions in their areas.

Rawat further informed that production of meat and meat products has been steadily growing at the rate of four per cent per annum while meat exports have been growing at close to 30 per cent per annum in terms of quantity.

He said, exports of value added meat products are insignificant.

The conference was organized by the National Meat and Poultry Processing Board (NMPPB) for the benefit of meat and poultry sector of the country and also for making decisive efforts for production of hygiene and nutritious meat and poultry products.

Mayors, Municipal Commissioners, Chairman of APEDA and experts from meat and poultry sector took part in the daylong deliberations.

NMPPB also signed MOUs with Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai and product board of meat and poultry Netherlands on the occasion. (ANI)