New Delhi, Aug 12: The government is all set to give protection to the country’s revered ‘Gomata’ by introducing a Bill in Parliament during the current session for a nationwide ban on cow slaughter.
A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, on Monday approved a proposal to this effect, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters after the meeting.

Once the Bill is passed by Parliament, the decision to ban cow slaughter would be “binding” on all States under the seventh schedule of the Constitution, Swaraj said, adding after the enactment of the legislation, the export of beef would also be banned.

The Bill would be brought under Entry 17 of the concurrent list which provides for prevention of cruelty against animals, she said.
Till now, the law was made under Entry 15 of the State list which provided for preservation of animals and States were free to enact legislations in this regard under Article 252(1) of the Constitution, she said.


The draft legislation on the cow slaughter ban was put forward in the Union Cabinet by the Agriculture Ministry, Swaraj added.

She declined to give further details of the Bill, citing the fact that Parliament was in session.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh on Monday announced that the State government was seriously considering a proposal to declare cow as the State animal.

He had recently said at a press conference that the proposal to declare cow as the State animal has not been considered by the State government so far.
Bureau Report