Gujarat assembly clears cow protection Bill

Ahmedabad: The state legislative assembly on Tuesday unanimously cleared the Bill to control the transportation of cattle within the state and outside. The Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 2011, specifically prevents the transportation of cow, the calf of a cow, a bull or a bullock.
The bill makes it obligatory for anyone wanting to transport the animal to obtain a permit from a new authority to be set up. The transporter will have to show that he is ferrying bovines only for bonafide agricultural or animal husbandry purpose.
State’s agriculture minister Dileep Sanghani said that anyone violating the proposed law will not only face seizure of the animals and vehicles in which they are sought to be transported, but also up to seven-year imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 50,000. The vehicles captured will not be released for six months.
Leader of opposition in the assembly Shaktisinh Gohil said that the need of the hour was to get to the bottom of the problem. “Earlier, Maldhari community that rears cattle had about 3.32 lakh hectare of land for grazing at their disposal. However, the present government has given away this gauchar land at a throw away prices to the industrial houses. Also earlier, nonproductive cows were sent to graze in these areas, but since there is no more gauchar land available, cattle herders were forced to spend Rs 40-50 per cow for fodder. This was driving then to sell their cows,” Gohil said.
The government should put off their celebrations and partying for one year and open government-owned cattle ponds so that Maldharis can send their cattle to such ponds instead of leaving them for butchers, he added. The Congress was of the opinion that the changes in the law would not have any impact. He said the amendment in the bill was to pacify the Maldharis who are agitating against the state government.