People should be allowed to eat beef if they want to: NITI Aayog CEO

He asserted that there should be freedom of choice and he was not in favour of banning beef exports

Senior bureaucrat Amitabh Kant is of the view that in a democracy like India people should be allowed to eat beef if they want to, asserting there should be a "freedom of choice".

"Well, I believe we are in a democracy which allows people to decide what they want to say, which would allow people to decide what they want to eat," said Kant, who is Secretary in Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in Government of India, at an NDTV event yesterday.

Asked if that includes eating beef, he shot back, "of course. There should be freedom of choice. I said it in the context, the fact that I come from Kerala cadre, my neighbour was a Nair, my right hand neighbour was a Brahmin, they all ate beef. We all grew up eating beef in that state. There should be freedom of choice."

Kant had also earlier said he was personally not in favour of banning beef exports, stating that the government should instead stay out of such areas and act as a catalyst for growth.

Kant, who is also the acting CEO of NITI Aayog, also took a swipe at Bollywood actor Aamir Khan whom he had countered on his remarks over climate of "intolerance" in the country.

"I think everyone should have the freedom to say what they want except when he is the brand ambassador of Incredible India," said Kant,

Kant, the 1980-batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, said Aamir has damaged brand India while being brand ambassador of the celebrated 'Incredible India' campaign. Kant had been the key driver of the campaign.

Defending the exit of Aamir from the campaign, Kant had said the actor, by terming India an 'intolerant country', worked against his role as that of a brand ambassador.

"A brand ambassador promotes a brand. People will come to India and tourist flow will increase only if the brand ambassador of 'Incredible India' promotes the country as 'incredible'. But if the brand ambassador says India is intolerant, he surely is not working as brand ambassador," Kant had said earlier.

"The brand ambassador must be the best brand ambassador for promoting and marketing India, he cannot be the destroyer of the brand," he had also said while replying to a query on removal of Khan from the campaign.

"Being a Brand Ambassador imposes responsibilities. U can't run down what u're promoting. That's damaging d brand," he had also tweeted.

Aamir had in November last year stirred a controversy after he expressed "alarm and despondency" over rising instances of intolerance in the country in the past few months and said that his wife (Kiran Rao) even asked if they should move out of India as she feared for safety of their children.