india

Updated: Sep 16, 2019 14:24 IST

Mohd Afzal and Anand Choubey never thought selling chicken and cow’s milk will be a bad business.

They run an outlet under a project of the Madhya Pradesh government in Vaishali Nagar area of the state’s capital Bhopal.

The kiosk set up more than two months ago under a pilot project of the Madhya Pradesh State Livestock and Poultry Development Corporation is at the centre of a raging controversy after the BJP accused the Congress-led government of hurting the sentiments of the Hindus by selling milk and chicken under the same roof.

One can buy Kadaknath chicken for Rs 900 a kilogram and several other varieties as well as milk at the “Chicken and Milk Parlour” near the corporation’s building.

The Kadaknath chicken, found in tribal-dominated districts like Jhabua, Alirajpur and a couple of other districts in Malwa region, is much in demand because of its taste and also for its low cholesterol and high protein content. It is also known for its medicinal value. The milk comes from the corporation’s Bull Mother Farm in Bhopal.

However, Afzal and Choubey see no problem in selling chicken and milk from the two adjacent kiosks and said the BJP’s protest is “unfortunate” and so does the Congress government.

“The protest is unfortunate. We have had no objection from any consumer. The chicken comes here properly packed. We had been selling it for more than two months. Since the sale of Kadaknath alone is not good we are selling other varieties of chicken and broiler,” Afzal said.

Choubey, Afzal’s business partner, said, “We take extreme care of hygiene. There is a different person who sells milk during a fixed period of time in the morning and evening.”

The state’s minister for animal husbandry Lakhan Yadav said that the project was launched to help tribals sell chicken for a good price.

“The sale of milk and that of chicken are from two different outlets. The BJP’s protest is just for the sake of protest,” Yadav said.

The corporation’s managing director HBS Bhadoria said the chicken parlour was set up mainly to provide a platform to tribal women’s self-groups in Jhabua, Alirajpur and certain other tribals districts to sell Kadaknath chicken.

More such parlours are also being planned, he said.

“Since the response from the public to the project is good we are going to open another parlour in Indore. Some more will follow in other parts of the state. However, milk will be available at only those places where the corporation has its farms,” Bhadoria said.

But the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said it is a deliberate act on the government’s part to hurt sentiments of Hindus.

“We can’t allow the sale of the two items in such a manner that hurts our sentiments. The impression given of two kiosks is just a façade. The two sets are one from inside,” the BJP’s vice-president of the state unit Rameshwar Sharma said.

“Cow and cow’s milk is a matter of faith for us. We will meet the minister and demand that the kiosks should be set up some distance away from each other. If the government doesn’t concede to our demand we will be forced to launch an agitation,” Sharma said.