Minister in-charge of animal husbandry and veterinary A.L Hek asserted that his top priority is to make Meghalaya self-sufficient in meat production.
Speaking to media persons, Hek said that the majority of the population in Meghalaya consume meat but everyone knows there is huge gap between supply and demand hence there is a need to come out with ways and means to make the state self sufficient in meat production.
Hek informed that after he was appointed as minister in-charge of animal husbandry and veterinary he had immediately called for an informal meeting with senior officers of the department to understand the organizational structure of the department.
“In order to make Meghalaya self-sufficient in meat production, the department will need to come out with various interventions whether it is for production of pork, beef, chicken or mutton,” said Hek.
Hek said that since he is new in the department he has not yet to review on the implementation of the Piggery Mission but soon he will seek information from the officers to get more knowledge on how the mission works so that the state becomes self-sufficient.
He added that he does not want to comment much on the alleged cattle smuggling as he doesn’t know about the modus operandi of the cattle smuggling but he will have an in-depth discussion with all officers on the particular issue.