Anti-cattle slaughter law: K’taka approves setting up of gaushalas in every district

Bengaluru The Karnataka government on Thursday approved setting up of gaushala’s or cow shelters across the state as part of the anti-cattle slaughter law

Bengaluru The Karnataka government on Thursday approved setting up of gaushala’s or cow shelters across the state as part of the anti-cattle slaughter law.

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“The cabinet has approved to put up gaushala’s in every district,” Basvaraj Bommai, Karnataka’s minister for home, law and parliamentary affairs said in Bengaluru on Thursday.

In the first phase an amount of ₹15 crore will be earmarked for the project which, the minister said, will be increased in subsequent phases.

In February, when the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill-2020 was passed amid huge commotion and opposition in the upper house of the state legislature, Bommai had stated that the government will increase capacity of its existing 184 cattle shelters from around 50,000 currently to 200,000. He added that more such schemes will be announced in the upcoming budget that takes away the burden of maintaining non-milching and other cattle.

The development comes even as the Karnataka high court continues to hear multiple petitions, challenging the bill that proposes to almost entirely stop cattle slaughter in a state where farmers have seen a sharp decline in income due to falling prices of produce and are dealing with the extremes in weather, alternating between floods and droughts in the calamity-prone state.

The Yediyurappa government introduced the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill-2020, now an act, which was subsequently passed in the legislative council in February this year.

The anti-cattle slaughter act is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) attempt to bring in legislation in line with its core-ideology, according to at least two legislators aware of the developments.

The Yediyurappa government had already promulgated the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance that widens existing provisions for punishment on killing of cattle. The bill also has a provision to safeguard those “acting in good faith” which activists fear would give rise to vigilantism.

The new laws penalise people who slaughter cattle below the age of 13-years with a jail term of 3-5 years and fines ranging from ₹50,000- ₹10 lakhs.

In a statement on June 9 last month, the chief minister’s office (CMO), stated that cattle that are too old to work can continue to produce fuel, manure and biogas as a way to counter arguments against the viability of retaining old and ailing cattle.

Between 2015-16 till 2019-20, the government said that nearly 1.3 million cattle like bulls and bullocks had been killed for various reasons including meat.

The government has argued that the cattle population has dropped drastically in the last eight years. According to the 19th livestock census in 2012, there were 9516,484 to 8469,004 in 2019 (20th livestock census).

It had also added that the population of the indigenous cattle is 1,254,206 (Hallikar and Amritmahal) and both male and female are used for drought purposes.

Beef produced in Karnataka is sent to neighbouring Kerala and Goa among other places and the ban resulted in an acute shortage in these states.

Karnataka exported around $2.5 million worth of beef in 2019-20 to UAE, Qatar and other countries, according to government data. Leather exports from Karnataka account for around $8.25 million, Hindustan Times reported in February this year.