After a six-hour marathon discussion, the Gujarat Assembly passed the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Movement) in Urban Areas Bill 2022 with majority at 12.35 am Friday. The government reduced the proposed fine following representations from its own as well as opposition MLAs.
The proposed law that will licence, regulate and prohibit cattle movements, will be applicable to eight municipal corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Jamnagar and Gandhinagar, and 162 municipality jurisdictions.
In his final statement, Minister of State for Urban Development Vinod Moradiya said, “The Bill was tabled at 6 pm and now it is 12.20 am… 25 MLAs participated in the discussion. I keep 20 cows. The BJP government has started financial assistance to panjrapoles. This sensitive government has decided to do whatever it takes to protect cows. The licence is to ensure that owners have sufficient space for cows. We are thinking to run panjrapoles on PPP… Imagine what harm it does when cows eat plastic and garbage and small children drink their milk.”
During the discussion, the Congress put up a stiff resistance to the Bill, tabled on the last day of the Gujarat Assembly, demanding its withdrawal in unison, and blaming the BJP government for using “cows for votes”.
Congress MLAs also blamed the government for unplanned urbanisation that led to the “depletion of pastoral land”. Former deputy chief minister Nitin Patel was among those who also raised an objection to the steep penalty imposed in the Bill, which has a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakh for a repeat offence and imprisonment up to two years.
Congress MLA Raghubhai Desai, who is from the cattle-rearing (maldhari) community, accused the government of “stabbing the community in the back”.
“The government sold gauchar (pastoral) land to industries… Sola Civil Hospital and RC Technical College were gauchar land. Villages like Gota, Hebatpur, Chharodi have no more gauchar land. Cities are turned into concrete jungles without any planning or alternate arrangements for cattle owners. Ninety per cent cows are in urban areas,” said Desai.
“What have you done for the community that has always supported the government? It is like stabbing the community in its back. There is the mining mafia, education fee mafia, corruption mafia and paper-leak mafia… why doesn’t the government go after them? Why are you after the maldharis,” he added.
Another Congress MLA from maldhari community, Lakhabhai Bharwad, blamed the Town Planning Schemes in cities. “The Gujarat Governor too keeps cows at his (official) residence… With new TP schemes, while there is provision for reserved plots, why not some for maldharis? There is not a single plot (reserved) for maldharis in the past 27 years,” said Bharwad.
“Even today in major cities where TP scheme work is on…. the cattle rearing community is still living with their cattle. This bill should have been brought after making alternate arrangements. This will be a major financial loss to maldharis. In coming days it will be situation where na rahe gaay na rahe gopalak (neither will there be cows nor will there be cattle rearers),” he added.
Former deputy CM Nitin Patel said, “I request the penalty to be reduced as it is too high for people into cattle farming who are very poor, uneducated and live in slums.”
While tabling the Bill in the House, Moradiya said that the stray cattle menace has increased in urban areas due to which many people have lost their lives.
“I myself have cows and have been helping injured and sick cows on roads reach panjrapoles… but we have seen children, women and senior citizens being attacked by stray cattle… So it is necessary to bring in a law to ensure cattle owners has space,” he said.
Demanding withdrawal of the Bill, MLA Naushad Solanki said, “If this is not withdrawn, tomorrow the protest will be on roads, villages and cities.” Congress MLA Baldevsinh Thakor said that maldharis are spread across communities like Chaudhary, Patidars, Thakor or any Gujarat farmer all are associated with cattle farming.
“I have heard for the first time in 27 years that one would require licence to keep cattle like having a driving licence, licence for revolver, car, vehicle, trader licences driving licences and even drinking permit. Where has the gauchar land gone of 30 villages merged with Ahmedabad City? There is no gauchar land around Ahmedabad… where will cattle farmers go? You do not worry about cattle or maldharis but the car owners who has to slow down due to cattle,” said Thakor.
In his address,Virji Thummar said that the opposition has unanimously supported the Private University bill but demand withdrawal of this Bill.
“If this bill is passed, then remember that BJP’s decadence will start today. Bring another bill for farmers, electricity for them at night… your party will be in a great loss if you pass this bill,” Thummar said. Punjabhai Vansh, too, questioned the BJP on the necessity to bring in this bill and has the government deliberated on the effects of implementing this when passed.
