By PTI
GANDHINAGAR: Aimed at prohibiting the movement of stray cattle on roads and public places in urban areas of Gujarat, the state Assembly on Friday passed a bill that mandates cattle-rearers to obtain a licence to keep such animals in cities and towns and get them tagged, failing which they may face imprisonment.
The bill was passed in the House in the wee hours of Friday following a seven-hour-long heated debate on it that had started around 6 pm on Thursday.
Opposition Congress vehemently opposed the “Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) In Urban Areas Bill”, and threatened to launch a state-wide stir against the BJP government for bringing such a “black Act”.
While tabling the bill, Minister of State for Urban Development Vinod Moradiya said the practice of keeping cattle, such as cows, buffaloes, bulls and goats in urban areas is causing trouble for the city-dwellers as the cattle-rearers let their animals stray on roads and other public places.
“When authorities impound such stray cattle, the cattle-rearers take them back after paying fees and again release them on roads. This is causing problems for the people. Many people have died after being hit by such stray cattle. This practice is also not good for cows because they die on roads eating plastic,” the minister said.
Under this law, cattle-rearers will be required to acquire a licence from a competent authority to keep their cattle in urban areas, which comprise eight cities – Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar and Jamanagar – and 156 towns.
“Without that licence, no person will be allowed to keep cattle in the city limits. Within 15 days of getting the licence, the owner will be required to get their cattle tagged and refrain from letting the cattle move on roads or any other places in the city,” Moradiya said .
If the owner fails to get its cattle tagged in 15 days, he will be punished with imprisonment which may extend up to one year or a penalty of Rs 10,000 or both, the bill document said. The sale of fodder for cattle in non-designated areas in cities is also prohibited under the bill.
According to the bill, any person who assaults officials or creates hurdles during cattle catching operation, will be punished with one year of imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 50,000. In case of seizure of the tagged cattle, the owner will be slapped with a penalty of Rs 5,000 for the first time, Rs 10,000 for second time and 15,000 as well as an FIR for the third time.
Cattle without tag will be seized and shifted to a permanent cattle shed by the authorities and released after taking a fine of Rs 50,000. Congress MLA Raghu Desai and Lakha Bharwad, both belonging to Maldari or cattle-rearer community, warned the government of a state-wide stir if the Bill was not withdrawn.
“There are 50 lakh cattle-rearers in the state and 70 per cent of them are poor and illiterate. Keeping cattle is our fundamental right and this bill is a direct attack on it. This bill is a conspiracy to displace us. We will not keep quiet. We will launch a state-wide stir against this black act,” Desai said.
Bharwad said, “BJP took votes in the name of cows all these years. And now, its government wants people to get licences for keeping the cows. This bill will only result in unnecessary harassment of my community. I want you to withdraw this bill for the sake of cows, considered as mother.”
In its defence, the BJP government said the bill is only meant to regulate the stray cattle and will not create any trouble for the law-abiding cattle rearers.
Minister of Law and Justice Rajendra Trivedi asked the Congress not to politicise the issue because it was the high court, which had recently directed the state government to enact such a law to tackle the menace of stray cattle.
The bill was finally passed through majority vote following a lengthy debate that ended at 1 am on Friday.
