Open to Suggestions on Cattle Slaughter Notification: Government

The Environment Minister said the intention behind the notification was not to harm any particular group.

Police detain activists protesting against the Central government’s notification banning sale and purchase of cattle for slaughter in Bengaluru. (Photo: PTI)

The government on Sunday said it is open to the suggestions made by various groups on the cattle slaughter notification and is not viewing it as a prestige issue.

Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said the intention behind the notification was not to harm any particular group, influence food habits, or affect the slaughter business:

Suggestions that have been submitted will be reviewed. It is not a prestige issue for the government.

The minister was asked if these representations were being reviewed and if the government was open to considering alternative views on the issue.

The row over beef eating and cattle trade has sparked a nationwide controversy and protests have been held in several states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has described the ban as undemocratic and unconstitutional and said her government will not accept it.

On 30 May, the Madras High Court had stayed the order for four weeks, owing to a petition challenging the bar as inimical to personal liberty, people's rights to livelihood, and an encroachment into matters that are within the domain of the states.

Vardhan added that the Environment Ministry has received several representations on it asking the government to consider alternative views ever since the ban.

Rules under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act are not to influence food habits or affect slaughtering business.

Harsh Vardhan

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier said that the ban has nothing to do with state laws on cow slaughter and is only concerned with the place of sale.

Protests have been held in several parts of Tamil Nadu including Madurai, Coimbatore, Erode and Hosur. Several activists of a little-known Tamil group were detained in Madurai where they had organised a beef-eating contest.

An NGO called the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture has urged the government to withdraw immediately the rules banning the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets.

It added that these rules will prove to be a big blow to farm households in the country that are already reeling under severe crisis.

The rules were imposed without any consultation with livestock rearing communities or with state governments, though this has a huge bearing on agriculture, the statement said.

The Kerala government had also decided earlier last week to convene a meeting of all chief ministers to discuss the “anti-federal” ban.

(With inputs from PTI)