Panaji: The Goa government will decide on whether to ban beef or not in “two to three weeks”, Animal Husbandry Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said here on Monday.

“We (government) will think about and decide in two to three weeks,” Tawadkar said, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a media event.

The minister’s comments came a few days after Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah said at a public meeting here that it was up to respective state governments to decide on banning beef after a consultative process.

Asked why it was necessary to deliberate on whether to ban beef or not when over 30 percent of the state’s population, including 26 percent Christians, relied on beef as the main protein supplement in their dietary habits, Tawadkar said: “We will think and decide after we listen to all views”.

Over 30 tonnes of beef is consumed in Goa everyday.

  beef, Beef ban, Goa