Gearing up to bring in harsh penalties to stop cow slaughter in Haryana, the State Government is also chalking out a plan to equip itself to distinguish between beef and buffalo meat. The State Government is planning to set up laboratories in southern districts of Haryana to distinguish between beef and buffalo meat.
With state assembly session lined up in less than a month’s time, the BJP led state government has initiated the process to announce a series of initiatives for cow protection besides making amendments in Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act following its announcements on this issue in party’s election manifesto released during assembly polls last year.
To equip the authorities concerned to distinguish between cow and buffalo meat, the State Government is mulling to set up laboratories in districts like Fatehabad, Gurgaon Rewari, Mohindergarh, Jhajjar among others. The proposal in this regard would be finalised soon. Apart from this, schemes to improve the local breed of cows and an international level research centre for conservation of cows is also being planned by Haryana Government.
With cow slaughter being an emotional and sensitive issue in Haryana, the State Government is trending cautiously on the issue and is also likely to set a separate body for the protection of cows. Notably, India is one of the world’s top exporters of beef (primarily from buffaloes). It is believed that cows, which are sacred to Hindus, are illegally slaughtered for their meat, on the other hand, Buffaloes, which are not sacred to Hindus can be legally slaughtered with some restrictions.
In the past few years, the number of cases of cow slaughter is reported to be increasing, causing social tension in Haryana. There have been many occasions in Jhajjar, Gurgaon, Mewat, Bhiwani and other places when the Hindus had objected to cows being carried in trucks to other States. last year, protests were held in Gurgaon and Jhajjar following the discovery of cow remains, which was suspected to be a case of cow slaughter and smuggling.
A senior official of Haryana Government while talking to The Pioneer said that curbing the cow slaughter in the State remains priority of the State Government and several announcements would be made in the next budget for the same. A substantial chunk of budget would be kept for initiatives related to cow protection in Haryana.
“A proposal to set up laboratories in parts of southern Haryana to differentiate between beef and buffalo meat is also in the pipeline. Such labs would be beneficial to prevent adulteration and guard against socio-religious and public health concerns. Besides bringing in amendments in Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act, the state government would also propose a separate body and a research centre for the cow protection,” said the official.
Recently, the CM had stated that the Government would soon enact ‘Gau Samwardhan Kanoon’, law for the protection of cows. Also, ‘Gau Greh’ (cow houses) would be set up in villages for 100-200 cows so these could be reared collectively.