Restaurants must display jhatka and halal distinction, South MCD rules

Similarly, meat shops also do not make the distinction, it said.

The resolution further states, “According to Hinduism and Sikhism, eating ‘halal’ meat is forbidden and against religion. Therefore, the committee resolves that this direction be given to restaurants and meat shops that it should be written mandatorily about the meat being sold and served by them that ‘’halal’ or ‘jhatka’ meat is available here.”

Leader of the house in the South MCD, Narendra Chawla, said officials can take action if they notice a violation. “Everyone has the right to know what he is eating. Also in Hindu and Sikh religion, there are some prescribed rules or conventions about diet.”

But leader of opposition in the South MCD, AAP leader Prem Chauhan, said such things are a way for BJP to divert from actual issues such as alleged corruption in the MCD. “They have a habit of interfering in personal things like who will wear what, who will marry whom,” he said.

Anurag Katriar, president of the National Restaurant Association of India, an umbrella body of more than 20,000 restaurants across India, said: “I don’t exactly understand the rationale behind this decision at this stage. These things could lead to unnecessary logistical issues for business owners. It will be very difficult for owners to keep two kinds of stocks or get easy supply of both types of meats… anyway, even today, people are free to ask this question and restaurants are obliged to answer,” he said.

Road after Rajput

Another proposal placed by Delhi Congress vice-president and councillor Abhishek Dutt was to name a stretch of a road in South Delhi’s Andrews Ganj area after the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead at his Bandra residence in Mumbai on June 14.

Among reasons listed by him was that Rajput is an inspiration for the country because he rose from a middle class background and made a career. He also scored seventh rank in the engineering entrance exam of Delhi Technological University and was associated with educational initiatives, Dutt reasoned.

Dutt said a large number of people living in the area abutting Road No. 8 hail from Bihar and they have been demanding that the stretch from Andrews Ganj to Indira Camp be named ‘Sushant Singh Rajput Marg’.