Every morning, in markets across Nagpur, live chickens are pulled out from overcrowded wired-cages and butchered at open counters, without stunning, licences, hygiene checks, or cold storage. This is not happening in a dark corner. Instead, it is happening across the city in full public view, in clear violation of the Food Safety and Animal Welfare laws. When ‘The Hitavada’ visited small chicken shops across the city’s markets, the pattern was the same everywhere. Birds were stacked in small wired-cages, one on top of the other. The birds are left with no water and no room to move. When a customer asked for a bird, it is pulled out, held down, and butchered in full public view. 

 

 

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) makes stunning of animals prior to slaughter mandatory and provides permissible methods for slaughter and the conditions under which they must be performed. Under the rules, slaughter for the purpose of food is only permitted in recognised or licensed slaughterhouses. Not one of these conditions was being met at the shops. India’s food safety framework puts enforcement responsibility on two bodies: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for licencing and food safety compliance, and the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) for the mandatory no objection certificate (NOC) every such shop must obtain before operating legally. Rohan Shah, Assistant Commissioner, FDA, said inspections take place, and blatant violations result in on-the-spot shutdowns, and there is a legal provision for fines against unlicensed shops. NMC remained unreachable. 

 

Professor Mukund Kadam, Head of Department, Poultry Science, Nagpur Veterinary College, told that while these rules exist, ground reality, is that these rules are not followed across most sectors of the industry. At large slaughterhouses, birds are typically passed through water carrying a mild 90-volt current, rendering them unconscious before they are butchered. “At roadside and small neighbourhood shops, this technology simply does not exist. The equipment is expensive and specialised. Hence all vendors just skip the process and carry out the butchering without prior stunning, without any legal authorisation to do so,” Kadam explained. Most customers buying chicken from these shops have never heard of an FSSAI licence. “If the shop is open, I assume it is permitted,” said a customer in Itwari. NMC can take action and deny NOCs. The FDA can impose fines and seal premises. None of this is being applied consistently to small chicken shops in the city.