North Delhi civic body makes labelling of meat as 'halal' or 'jhatka' mandatory for restaurants, eateries

New Delhi: Restaurants and shops in north Delhi will now have to “mandatorily” display whether the meat being sold or served is “halal” or “jhatka” as the BJP-led North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Tuesday cleared a proposal in this regard, its mayor said. The proposal was recently moved by the Standing Committee of the NDMC. North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash said the House “cleared the proposal in its meeting today”. “So, restaurants and shops in north Delhi will now have to mandatorily display whether the meat being sold or served is halal or jhatka,” he said. ‘Jhatka’ method is one in which an animal is slaughtered in one go, while in the ‘halal’ method, an animal is allowed to die after cutting a vein. North Delhi has a number of eateries, restaurants and streetside shops selling or serving non-vegetarian food items, prominent places being Chandni Chowk, Daryaganj and Kashmere Gate. A similar proposal was cleared by the House of the BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation late January. Restaurants and shops in markets in areas like Defence Colony, Amar Colony, Sarojini Nagar, South Extension, and INA sell non-vegetarian items. Officials had earlier said restaurants and meat shops will have to “display clearly and visibly” whether they are serving ‘halal’ or ‘jhatka’.