Explained | Gujarat’s cattle control Bill and India’s stray cattle issue

In this February 15, 2015, file photo, a woman spreads out fodder for rescued cattle at a “gaushala”, or a cow shelter, run by Bharatiya Gou Rakshan Parishad, an arm of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), at Aangaon village in Maharashtra (Source: Reuters)

The story so far: Pulling up the State government, the Gujarat High Court on September 6 directed it to put forth a short and long-term plan to control the stray cattle menace. Urging the State government to set up a separate cell to monitor the stray cattle, the High Court directed the government to give effect to the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) in Urban Areas Bill, which was passed by the Assembly in March but has been put on hold since then.

The Gujarat government had introduced the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) in Urban Areas Bill to regulate stray cattle in eight major cities – Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Junagadh — and 162 towns.