Gujarat may withdraw stray cattle bill passed by assembly 4 days ago, says BJP

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat’s Bhupendra Patel government is considering scrapping the stray cattle bill passed by the assembly just four days ago in view of opposition by the state’s pastoral communities, Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief CR Paatil said on Monday.

This is the second time in a week that the BJP, which is preparing for the state assembly elections expected to be held in November-December this year, has backed down. On March 29, Paatil announced that the central government had agreed to put the Pari-Tapi-Narmada river inter-linking project on hold following opposition from tribals living in areas that were likely to be submerged due to the project.

Paatil explained the government’s decision to revisit the bill to provisions in the existing laws. “I think that there are enough provisions in the Gujarat Municipalities Act to curb the cattle menace in the state. Some leaders have made their representation to me and I have requested Gujarat chief minister (Bhupendra Patel ) to look into the matter and reconsider the decision. The chief minister’s response was very positive and I am sure the government will rethink,” said Paatil on Monday.

The Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) in Urban Areas Bill, 2022, was introduced in the assembly on March 31. It was passed the same day after a six-hour-long discussion by lawmakers. Congress legislators did oppose the bill but the BJP has a clear majority with 111 legislators in the 182-seat assembly.

The bill was primarily aimed at keeping stray cattle out of the state’s eight major cities - Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Junagadh - and 162 towns with municipalities notified as urban areas. It bars people from having cattle in these areas without the approval of the municipal authorities and requires those with a license to geo-tag the cattle.

Under the law, a cattle-rearer will be required to obtain a licence from the competent authority for keeping cattle in eight cities and 156 towns of Gujarat, and the cattle will have to be tagged within 15 days of obtaining a licence.

The bill made it mandatory for cattle owners to secure a licence to keep cattle and mandated that every cattle should be registered and tagged in municipal areas. The bill proposed a jail term and steep fines for violations.

Raghu Desai, Congress MLA from Radhanpur and president of Gujarat Maldhari Mahapanchayat, which has been leading the agitation against the cattle bill, demanded that the government give them a written assurance for them to withdraw their agitation.

“We want written assurance from the state government before we roll back our protest. We have made representations to the authorities in eight cities and twenty districts where the proposed law can impact. The law was framed without conducting proper studies or consultation. The new bill was aimed at appeasing voters in urban areas,” Desai said.

Desi added that there were existing provisions in the law to deal with violators.

“The punishment for offenders is very harsh and the penalty amount is also very high. If the government does not announce its decision to withdraw its proposal, we will intensify our agitation in the coming days,” Desai said.

Under the proposed law, keeping cattle in any area declared as a prohibited area will be liable to a jail term of one year and a ₹20,000 fne.