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Zomato Delivery Driver in Mumbai
New Delhi
CNN
—
A popular food delivery app in India has abruptly pulled back amid controversy after launching an initiative to attract vegetarian customers.
Earlier this week, Zomato announced plans to introduce select restaurants that serve only “pure vegetarian food.”
The list “excludes all restaurants that serve non-vegetable foods,” said Deepinder Goyal, the company's founder and CEO. said in X on tuesday.
“Non-vegetarian” is an abbreviation for “non-vegetarian” and refers to foods that contain meat, poultry, and seafood.
“India has the highest proportion of vegetarians in the world,” Goyal wrote in X, adding that many of them are “very particular” about how their food is prepared and handled.
To further cater to these exacting dietary preferences, their food will be delivered by a “dedicated pure vegetable carrier.” The company says these delivery workers will wear new green uniforms, as opposed to the red uniforms worn by other delivery workers.
“This means that non-veg meals, or even veg meals served at non-veg restaurants, will never make it into our green delivery boxes for our pure veg fleet,” Goyal said. he added.
Many of the most widely followed religions in the world's most populous country require adherence to strict dietary laws.
Jains and many Hindus adhere to a vegetarian diet, following the principles of ahimsa, or nonviolence and respect for all life.
According to the Pew Research Center, nearly four out of 10 adults in India identify as vegetarians.
Some of these diets are so deeply ingrained that real estate developers even refuse to sell apartments to meat eaters.
Regulations on cow slaughter have become a hot topic of political controversy in India in recent years, as many Hindus, India's majority, consider cows to be sacred.
Although Goyal stressed that the new plan is not aimed at “alienating religious or political preferences,” the company has faced significant backlash on social media.
Some users criticized the move as “casteism” since many dominant caste Hindus tend to be vegetarians, while many people from marginalized castes are not.
Although India's caste system was officially abolished in 1950, the 2,000-year-old social hierarchy imposed on people at birth still exists in many aspects of life. The caste system classifies Hindus at birth and defines their position in society, the jobs they can have, and who they can marry.
Zomato's move was criticized as dangerous for both meat eaters and delivery workers.
“It's unsafe and illogical.” 1 user wrote in X. “This reinforces the artificial divide between vegetable eaters and non-vegetable eaters. …Allows colonies to identify and persecute nationals based on food preferences.”
Following the outcry, Zomato withdrew its plan to wear green clothes to its passengers delivering vegetarian food. “All riders, both regular and vegetarian vehicles, will wear red color,” Goyal said on Wednesday.
“This ensures red uniform delivery partners are no longer incorrectly associated with non-vegetable foods or blocked. [housing] “Society… the physical safety of our riders is of paramount importance to us,” he said.
“We now realize that some of our customers can also get into trouble with their landlords. If it happens because of us, it's not a good thing,” he added. Ta.
