The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Wednesday approved a Bill to shift all slaughterhouses outside city limits.
Under the amended provisions, the powers and duties of municipal corporations and municipal boards have also been reduced in the running of slaughterhouses. At a meeting convened in Lucknow, the Cabinet gave its nod to the Uttar Pradesh Nagar Nigam (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and Uttar Pradesh Nagar Palika (Amendment) Bill, 2018, to remove slaughterhouses from public places.
“From the viewpoint of environment and hygiene, slaughterhouses will operate from outside the limits of a city,” said Minister Shrikant Sharma.
With the amended laws, the Nagar Nigams (municipal corporations) and Nagar Palikas (municipal boards) would only have to monitor whether the slaughterhouses were following the government norms. Earlier, the local bodies were responsible for the construction and running of abattoirs, Mr. Sharma told The Hindu .
Sections of Acts struck off
The government has struck off Sections 237 and 238 of the U.P. Nagar Palika Act, 1916, and Sections 29 and 30 of the U.P. Nagar Nigam Act, 1959, arguing that they are in “direct conflict” with provisions of central laws on cruelty against animals and Food safety Act, 2006.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Slaughterhouses) Rules, 2001 restrict the slaughtering of animals within a city except in slaughterhouses, the government said in an statement.
Slaughtering of animals for religious purposes, however, has been allowed within the city.
The Cabinet also amended several existing laws related to slaughterhouses, Section 7 (1) H of the municipality board act and Sections 114 (21) and four sub-clauses of 422.
