Election model code keeps buyers away from weekly cattle market

Melapalayam cattle market sees decline in business due to election code of conduct, affecting sellers and healthcare services.

The Melapalayam weekly cattle market, which would usually witness robust business on Tuesdays lacked lustre though Ramzan is to be celebrated on Thursday (April 11), thanks to election model code of conduct and consequent check on movement of unaccounted-for cash.

 The market would usually witness good business on Tuesday with the cattle-rearers briskly selling a minimum of thousand cows, bulls, goats, sheep, roosters, etc. The business would reach its crescendo ahead of big festivals such as Pongal, Easter, Ramzan, Bakrid, Deepavali and Christmas wherein the sheep and goat would fetch huge money for the farmers.

Though Ramzan is to be celebrated on April 11, the cattle-rearers did not get the price they expected for their animals due to little number of buyers having turned-up for the market at Melapalayam.

 “While the buyers have to bring a few lakhs of rupees in cash for buying the goats and sheep, the sellers will return home with this huge sum, for which they will not have any supporting document and cannot account for when they are stopped by the flying squads. To avoid such embarrassing situations, most of the regular sellers did not turn up,” said S. Murugan, a butcher from Palayamkottai.

 A senior executive of a leading private eye hospital here said the number of patients coming to the hospital for procedures has drastically dipped as they are apprehensive about carrying cash to the hospital.

 “Even though they show the diagnosis of the eye problem and prescription by the ophthalmologist to justify the reason behind carrying the cash to the hospital, the flying squads ask for acceptable documents to account for the money if it exceeded ₹50,000. However, the patients’ families, which might have brought the money from their savings kept in their houses or through borrowings from relatives, cannot submit proof for the cash. Hence, the patients have been compelled to postpone the procedures which naturally result in drastic fall in influx of patients,” he said.

Another hospital executive said Ramzan celebration on April 11 and the ongoing public examinations have also contributed to the fall in number of patients coming to the hospitals for elective surgeries.