NPF legislator Moatoshi Longkumer on Friday alleged that some people from Assam in connivance with the Government of Assam is trying to capture pork market in Nagaland.
“Some people from Assam in connivance with the Assam Government officials have designed a very sinister plan to capture the pig market in Nagaland under the pretext of African Swine Flu pandemic in Assam,” he alleged during the general discussion on the budget for the year 2021-22 on Friday. The Nagaland Page reported.
Stating that Nagaland is the highest consumer of pork in the Northeast, he alleged that some people from Assam have understood how pork is that important for the Nagas “and they are working with Assam Government officials to capture the pork market of Nagaland.”
The NPF MLA suspicion of the “sinister plan” was awakened following failure of the Assam Government to issue transit pass to transport pigs from Haryana and Punjab to NE States, particularly Nagaland, if the transporters fulfill all required SOPs.
The Government of India had earlier issued a memo to the principal secretaries (AHoD) of Haryana and Punjab and all NE states to allow movement of pigs from Haryana and Punjab to NE. The Guwahati High Court had also passed a judgment that necessary transit pass be granted with 72 hours on receipt of application on the condition that pigs should not be unloaded in Assam if an up-to-date vaccination certificate is provided.
However, inspite of fulfilling all the SOPs as required by the court, the Assam Government have not issued the transit pass nor allowed pigs consignment to pass through Assam, Longkumer informed.
The irony is that, Assam is at the centre of this ongoing African Swine Flu but they are selling pork meat in a large scale without any restriction which can be evidently witnessed by anyone while crossing over to Lahorijan and beyond towards Bokajan, he alleged.
Pointing out that while it should not come as a surprise to see that most of the customer are the gullible Nagas rushing to buy pork meat without ascertaining whether the pig was infected by the African Swine Flu or not, Longkumer also alleged that the steep price of pork necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic and which should now have come down is not happening due to the “sinister design” of economic blockade imposed by Assam Government.
All these reasons have made the price of pork costlier day by day and now the common man cannot afford to buy even a kg of pork as the price is dictated by the market in Assam, he said.
Longkumer also addressed the allocation of Rs 350 Lakhs to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary for 2021-22, out of which Rs 300 Lakhs was earmarked for setting up three Model Piggery Farms.
“I believe it is not relevant anymore. Nagas does not need anymore demonstration farm, be it in the veterinary, fishery or anywhere.
“We have learnt enough, we need production now and so instead of investing the money on demonstration farm which is not relevant in the context of Nagaland, the money should be disbursed to the public for production,” he added.