No to cow slaughter slaughter

VELLORE: On the occasion of ‘Maattu Pongal’, a local NGO, Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum, has pleaded with the State government to ban cow slaughter, the honorary general secretary of the forum, P S Subrahmanian, said, referring to the President of India’s recent nod to a bill enacted by the Madhya Pradesh government on banning of cow slaughter.Subrahmaniam said there was an increase in the number of slaughter-houses in the districts of Vellore and Trichy and the government’s sponsoring of modern slaughter-houses had given a big boost to leather trade.The Indian Leather Industry is reported to  handle more than 900 million metres of hide and skin annually, he said, adding that these figures have increased exponentially with the increase in licenses given to slaughter-houses across the country. The forum has further appealed to the Chief Minister to ban the International Leather Fair in Chennai.