Haryana government to introduce bill making cow slaughter, beef possesion illegal in Budget session

Chandigarh: After Maharashtra, Haryana government will introduce a bill in the Budget session to ban beef and cow slaughter in the state. Punishment under section 302 which amounts to murder, will be slapped for cow slaughter and possession of beef will also be included as crime.

Haryana Agriculture Minister Om Parkash Dhankar had on March 8 said that the state is set to introduce a bill for "protection and upkeep" of cows in the session.

In the proposed 'Govansh Sanrakashan and Gau Samvardhan (Cow Protection and Cow Conservation and Development) Bill' efforts will be made to ban cow slaughter and for conservation and better care of indigenous cattle, he said.

"For the scientific test and analysis, government is considering to establish laboratories to differentiate beef from meat of that of other animal species. Test reports of these laboratories will be valid evidence in the court of law," Dhankar said adding that sale of packaged beef has been banned in the state.

The minister noted that there were some 3,000 cows in the state in 400 cow shelters run by NGOs. Besides, some 1.5 lakh cows roam in fields or streets.

He said that the existing cow sheds will be upgraded and made self-sufficient.

The state will provide financial and technical support to cow welfare organisations like Gaushalas, Gau-Grah, Gau-Abhyaranya, Gau-Sadan, Gokul Gram that are engaged in maintenance and care of sick, injured, stray and uneconomic cows, he said.

"The government will take necessary steps to provide incentives for marketing and processing of milk from indigenous cows," he added.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/haryana-government-to-introduce-bill-making-cow-slaughter-beef-possesion-illegal-in-budget-session/533417-37-64.html