Govt’s failure to hold cattle price within buying capacity is deplorable

Though the government is telling, like every year in the past, that there are more animals for sacrifice in the country than the demand, if past experience is anything to go by, this year also the price of cattle will be very high in the cattle markets. It is no new knowledge now that there is little money in the hands of people excepting the privileged section in society and as a result people in general are showing less enthusiasm for sacrificing cattle this Eid. One sign of it is that in the capital makeshift haats of cattle are yet to kick-start.

This season many pious Muslims will not be able to perform the rite of sacrifice due to inability to buy and the high cost of cattle. It is really very sad that the government has pitifully failed to keep the price of cattle in the country within people’s purchasing capacity compared to the neighbouring countries for which consumption of beef as well as mutton is dwindling very fast in Bangladesh.

Two Eids are the occasions here that make a lasting effect on the price of beef all through the year. In the last Eid-ul-Fitr, the beef price that shot up by Tk 30-50 per kilo has not come down yet. Presumably, the high price of cattle will also further increase the price of beef in the coming days. Therefore, the government’s assurance that there is an adequate number of cattle in the country makes no sense. The surveys that have revealed that there are 12,536,333 sacrificial animals against the demand for 10,394,739 this year also are of little value.

That many middle class Muslim families who in the past used to sacrifice animals will not be able to buy cattle should have been a concern for the government. What will the people do with a surplus of 2,141,594 animals over the demand if they have no money in their pockets? The people who used to sacrifice a whole cow before now share the animal with others or sacrifice a goat for example.
True, India’s ban on cow export to Bangladesh several years ago has created a positive impact on the domestic production of cows, but the fact is that self-sufficiency in domestic production has failed to lower the price of cattle.