‘Bring chicken back to dining table’

There were many like him who were enjoying various chicken dishes served at Swabhumi, where all poultry organisations, in association with the state’s National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), organised a chicken and egg festival. The aim was to bring back people’s faith in consuming poultry products,

Glitterati from Tollywood and state ministers came together to break the myths surrounding bird flu in the state.

Besides Subhas Chakraborty, prominent among others present were actors Pulokita Ghosh and Locket Chatterjee, ARD minister Anisur Rehman and footballer Subrata Bhattacharya. All of them urged the people not to remove chicken from their menu altogether.

Madan Mohan Maity, zonal chairman of NECC, Baruipur MLA Rahul Bose, and P K Roy, MD of Arambagh Hatcheries, were also present. The guests relished chicken served on huge platters.

This festival follows culling of over 38 lakh chicken in 14 districts of West Bengal in the last month. There is, however, still a ban on the movement of poultry, purchase and sale of chicken in five out of 120 municipalities in the state. Many poultry owners and chicken vendors are complaining that they have not received the compensation announced by the government. Achinta Ghoshal, a poultry owner from Mallikpur, said they were still awaiting the compensation that was promised to them.

The lack of proper dissemination of information has only added to their woes, as chicken sales have not picked up even after the state government lifted the ban.

Anisur Rehman said bird flu had hit the backyard poultry only and not the organised poultry. Dietician Ronita Ghosh explained that it was safe to eat chicken as long as it is cooked in the prescribed temperature.

The public’s fear about consumption of chicken, however, could not be hidden. A mother of a young child said she would wait for another month before bringing chicken back to her dining table. “We can’t trust the state government entirely on its assurance,” she said.

Director, Animal Resource Development, Mrinal Bhowmik, meanwhile, visited Delhi and had a discussion with Union Agriculture Ministry officials to work out a compensation package for the affected poultry owners and chicken vendors.