DOOMDOOMA, July 26 - Pig farmers of Tinsukia district have strongly opposed the Centre�s decision to allow pig farmers of Punjab and Haryana to export pigs to the North East.
In a letter to the Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of Animal Husbandry Departments of Punjab, Haryana and the Northeastern states on July 22, Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Joint Secretary Upamanyu Basu allowed pig farmers of Punjab and Haryana to export pigs to the North East for being consumed as pork.
Reacting to this decision of the Union Ministry, the Tinsukia District Animal Husbandry Association (TDAHA) stated that such a step would have long-term effects in the market as local pig farmers were already under utmost distress caused by the African Swine Fever (ASF).
Addressing a press conference at Talap here on Saturday, TDAHA president Bharat Handique and general secretary Pratim Sonowal said that if pig farmers of Punjab and Haryana are allowed to export pigs to Assam and the other Northeastern states, the pig traders of those two states would capture the local markets.
They expressed concern over the silence of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Atul Bora in the matter. They also questioned where was the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy when pigs were dying in the state due to the ASF.
The TDAHA demanded the Union government to withdraw its decision. TDAHA vice presidents Apurba Gayan and Gunin Hazarika, and assistant secretary Jitul Sonowal also attended the press conference.
