New Delhi: A Trinamool Congress member in Rajya Sabha today expressed concern over Maharashtra government banning consumption of beef, saying the ban would not only have an economic impact but the punishment for eating the meat has become more than that for sexual harassment.

Raising the issue during Zero hour, Derek O'Brien (TMC) said the issue should not be looked through the "religious prism" as lot of people besides minorities, including Dalits and those in the Northeast, ate beef which is "poor man's protein".