Battle of Bovines

With the stray cow menace assuming alarming proportions and affecting the rural economy, the Madhya Pradesh government plans to amend the law so that owners who abandon their cattle are punished

~By Rakesh Dixit in Bhopal

The Madhya Pradesh government seems to have realised that its victory in stalling cow slaughter in the state is a pyrrhic one. Bovine population here is multiplying, thanks to a stringent anti-cow slaughter law and rampant cow vigilantism by saffron outfits. The unchecked bovine expansion has affected the rural economy and hindered traffic on highways. The stray cow menace has assumed alarming proportions as the animals raid crops, forcing the state government to think about applying punitive measures to owners who abandon their cattle.

To this end, a state government committee has recommended amendment to the Madhya Pradesh Gauvansh Vadh Pratishedh Adhiniyam. The act has provisions to punish those involved in the slaughter and illegal transportation of cattle. It was enacted in 2004 and amended in 2012 with a provision to raise the maximum punishment for cow slaughter from three years’ imprisonment to seven, besides a minimum fine of Rs 5,000. The amended act puts the responsibility of proving the prosecution wrong on the accused in a cow slaughter case. The act further says: “Any police officer not below the rank of head constable or anyone authorised by a competent authority shall have the power of entry, inspection, search and seizure and to present the case in the court.”

As harsh as it may sound, the law has deterred potential offenders. However, it is silent on those who let loose their cows after the animals become unproductive. As a result, cows, instead of being assets, have become liabilities and farmers are unwilling to spend money on rearing unproductive animals.

Farmers who used to sell their cows after they stopped producing milk are no longer able to do so. Selling cows for slaughter is illegal and traders are afraid to buy them.

ABANDONED COWS

With no avenue to sell their cattle, farmers prefer to abandon them rather than spend on feeding them. This has led to many abandoned cows wandering into farms, destroying crops and prompting a new man-animal conflict. The state’s “kanji” houses, where impounded cattle are kept till they are reclaimed by their owners, are unable to cope with the number of unwanted animals.

Experts have said the large-scale abandoning of cows is a threat not only to the dairy economy but to forestry, grasslands and urban facilities. In order to minimise this conflict and conserve the cow, a committee was set up by the MP government to suggest solutions.

Swami Akhileshwaranand, chairman of the executive council of the Madhya Pradesh Cow Protection Board, reportedly said: “We want to introduce a penalty for owners who abandon their cows. The penalty will be slapped even if a cow is killed in a road accident because it’s proof that the owner has abandoned it.” He is one of the members of a committee which is also looking at how to get stray cows off highways and city streets. Others include bureaucrats from the departments of animal husbandry, cooperation, urban development and environment. The committee also wants the law to include the word “conservation”.

USING DRONES

Akhileshwaranand said district collectors had been using drones to spot the areas most affected by stray cows. Only 604 of the 1,246 registered gaushalas in the state are active. The committee has recommended that the owners of gaushalas “who lie about the number of cows they shelter” also be penalised.

Among the other recommendations of the committee are castration of bulls of nondescript breeds, creation of gothan (structures where cows can rest), gau abhyaranya (cow sanctuaries) and gau vanvyavihar (forest areas demarcated for cows) and freeing charnoi (pastures) from encroachment.

According to official estimates, there are 54 lakh cows along with other milch animals in Madhya Pradesh. The state accounts for nearly 10.27 percent of the country’s cattle population. In Madhya Pradesh there is no estimate of the stray cattle population.

The centre has suggested that this project be expanded nationally. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir has proposed that 1,000 hectares of forest land be allotted for cow sanctuaries in every district of every state where slaughter is banned. Madhya Pradesh has the country’s first cow sanctuary. It was recently inaugurated in Salaria village in Agar district of the state. The state government has promised another sanctuary in Rewa district.

ASSEMBLY TAKES NOTE

The problem of abandoned cows in the state cropped up on July 21 in the assembly when MLAs sought intervention on the matter. The lawmakers, cutting across political lines, said cows were being abandoned for good unlike the earlier practice when owners would let loose their cattle post-harvest and later get them back. Bharatiya Kisan Sangh leader Shivkant Dixit said that 35 to 40 of Madhya Pradesh’s 51 districts were affected by the stray cow menace.

Tribal activist Anurag Modi told India Legal that the anti-cow slaughter act, coupled with cow vigilantism, had destroyed the rural economy. “Tribals used to buy young animals from weekly markets and sell them. They have stopped doing so due to the fear of gau rakshaks and the police, who are hand-in-glove with them.”

BJP MLA from Tikamgarh KK Shrivastava, who initiated a debate on the issue in the assembly, blamed the previous Congress government. “Earlier, 10 percent of the total land used to be reserved as gauchar land. By the time the Congress lost power in 2003, the grazing land had come down to just two per cent,” he said.

The Madhya Pradesh Cow Protection Board finds itself unequal to the task of handling the cow problem. Akhileshwaranand says the Board needs more funds. Its budget was increased from Rs 20 crore per year to Rs 25 crore recently. But the Board wants nearly Rs 100 crore so that it can spend Rs 10 per cow per day from the present Rs 2.90.

The Board has also suggested that the government build a gauthan for every four to five gram panchayats each and bring work related to gaushalas under the ambit of the MNREGS. It is obvious that the cattle are in a league of their own here.