The Ministry of Environment and Forest on Tuesday notified Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 adding a raft of tough regulations for sale and purchase of cattle. The rules range from the nitty-gritty of transporting cattle, identity of the seller, vetting of the buyer, creation of District Animal Market Committee, increased role of veterinary inspectors and para-veterinary staff and State Board with suo motu powers to regulate the market.
“This is totally shocking. It is a complete ban on cow slaughter. There was no ban in Kerala and Bengal, now they will be bound by this Central law. Butchers and cattle traders will be pushed out of the market with this law. Cattle traders and butchers are most economically and educationally backward communities, this will be a big blow to them economically. But it will be difficult to impose,” said Faheem Qureshi, president of All India Jamatul Quresh Action Committee, after going through the new rules.
Among the regulations are the ones restricting the sale of cattle. The seller has to show ownership and the buyer has to show revenue document to prove that he/she is an agriculturist with clear undertaking that the animal is not for slaughter. The proof of sale has to be five copies; one for seller, second for purchaser, third for the Tahsil office of the purchaser, fourth for the Chief Veterinary Officer and the final copy with the Animal Market Committee.
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“This will be a blow to the informal trade in cattle, which is the norm. Small and marginal farmers see cattle as insurance. In times of distress they sell them off and when times are better they buy them back. In my recent 40-day travel through the drought-affected region of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana, the farmers told me the prices of cattle have crashed. These sets of rules are not practicable,” says Harsha Vadlamani, a photo-journalist who has chronicled farmer distress in many districts of central India and its consequences.
“This will lead to more corruption and will make the life of cattle traders, farmers and butchers difficult. Already we have tough laws which prohibit sale of milch cows for slaughter. Section 6 of PCA makes it mandatory that the veterinary officer certify that the animal is not for slaughter. There are other rules which are being enforced including the Supreme Court judgment in the Laxmi Narayan Modi case regulating slaughter houses,” said Abdul Qureshi, a leading cattle trader in the city.