In view of the panic following carcass meat racket, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that a high-powered committee headed by chief secretary to prepare a foolproof mechanism to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future.
“People have stopped eating meat after reports of the carcass racket scam surfaced. We have formed a high-powered committee under the chief secretary to chalk out a foolproof mechanism to stop such practices in the future. We want people to start their previous food habit,” said Miss Banerjee after attending the administrative review meeting at Nabanna on Tuesday.
The state government has already formed a SIT to probe the matter after police seized 20 tonnes of rotten meat meant to be supplied to eateries and departmental stores of Bengal and its neighbouring states from a cold storage in central Kolkata.
The nine-member committee will be led by chief secretary Moloy De and comprise home secretary, director general of police, police commissioner, Kolkata Police, principal secretary health, principal secretary municipal affairs and urban development, principal secretary ARD, principal secretary food and supplies and ACS panchayat and rural development department.
“We want people to eat what they like and enjoy. Once the mechanism is devised, we will tell people that they can have their meat items without any fear,” she said.
Praising the role of the police in unearthing the scam, Miss Banerjee said: “The racket is not limited to West Bengal but was operated from other states too.
The police have done a very good job.” During the meeting, Miss Banerjee is learnt to have expressed her concern over the carcass meat case saying, “What is happening? Will people leave eating meat?” She asked BP Gopalika, ARD secretary, to work in tandem with other departments in keeping a vigil over such incidents.
Even the state secretariat replaced the meat dishes by different fish varieties in the menu of the lunch served after the meeting. Over the past few days, 11 people, including a leader of a political outfit, have been arrested in connection with the scam.
The state government has directed all police stations in the metropolis and its surrounding districts to keep a watch on the sale of meat in their areas, officials said.
Meanwhile, while speaking at a meeting, Miss Banerjee asked the education department as to why it had not informed her about NEET irregularities as she came to know about it from newspapers. Next, she directed forest officials to conduct training for its staff as they did not have proper information about movement of tigers.