In Tamil Nadu, rearers are caught in a bind when MCC ruins the commerce at Ettayapuram cattle shandy

The district’s goat and sheep rearers are left in the dark ahead of Ramadan as the livestock trade for meat has declined due to a low turnout of traders at the Ettayapuram shandy in Thoothukudi on Saturday. Many traders attribute their suffering to the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The dealers said that the cattle industry has suffered as a result of the MCC, which was put into place in anticipation of the subsequent Lok Sabha election and prohibits carrying more cash than Rs 50,000 without corresponding documentation.

One of the largest cattle markets in the southern areas of the state is the weekly shandy held in Ettayapuram every Saturday. The shandy is where traders from all across Tamil Nadu gather to purchase sheep and goats for their meat businesses. Due to the limits imposed by the election code, commerce, which often surpasses Rs 6 crore during holiday seasons like Deepavali, Pongal, Christmas, Bakrid, and Ramadan, has decreased to Rs 1 crore.

Amidst the celebrations of Ramadan on April 11, which draw vast flocks of goats and sheep to the shandy, traders came out in relatively small numbers on Saturday because of the poll code that was in place, according to reports. “Many traders from Madurai, Pudukottai, and Coimbatore did not participate in the shandy; only a very small number of traders from the Tirunelveli local areas came.”

Rearer Karupasamy regretted. Another dealer said that the introduction of MCC had an effect on the market since it made it impossible for traders to participate in the bidding. Officers from the static surveillance teams and flying squads want to see the bills or source of the money while we are carrying cash. He questioned, “How can a trader show bills for buying livestock?” It should be mentioned that last week, the flying squad officers took money from a few of the dealers here, which scared off the other vendors.

“The Election Commission of India must permit traders to carry at least Rs 2 lakh cash with them, as the current permissible amount of Rs 50,000 is not enough to suffice the purchase needs of petty shopkeepers,” said Kamaraj, the head of the traders’ group, criticizing the tight execution of MCC.