After the citizens, it’s the cows that could get a unique identification number in the days to come. In its bid to stop the smuggling of cattle along the Indo-Bangladesh border, the Centre has proposed to have a tamper-proof unique identification number for cattle throughout India.
It will be mandatory for all cows and their progeny in the country.
The recommendation forms part of a Committee chaired by Joint Secretary (Border Management), Ministry of Home Affairs, for evolving a comprehensive future plan to deal with the issue of illegal transportation of cattle to Bangladesh.
Submitting the final recommendations of the committee to the Supreme Court during a hearing on a PIl by Akhil Bharatiya Krishi Goseva Sangh that highlighted the issue of cattle smuggling, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar pointed out that one of the key recommendations will
be introduction of a unique ID for each cattle.
The recommendation of the committee said, “The Ministry of Agriculture has devised a method of tamper-proof identification of cattle using polyurethane tags with a Unique Identification Number sequence. This may be made mandatory for all cows and their progeny throughout India and for all cattle that is owned.”
Already, the process of tagging cattle for insurance purpose has started. This is
being done by the livestock Development Boards
and Animal Husbandry Department of State Governments.
Each such tag will have records of identification details of the cattle including age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body colour, horn type, tail switch, special marks, etc. A State-level databank will be maintained, which is recommended to be linked with the national database as such cattle could be found in a dairy, kanji house or dry dairy.
In addition, the Committee has proposed a Registration Card for each owner of the cattle. This card will be transferrable as and when the cattle is sold to the next owner in case of a legitimate sale or transfer. The protocol for such registration is being worked out by the Ministry of Agriculture and once the budget for this process is approved, registration of all cattle will be done in a phase-wise manner monitored by the Registrar of Cattle Premises who is available in each states under the Registration of Cattle Premises Rules 1978 framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.
At the Central level, the report added, “A Central Online Database of registration numbers will be maintained by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and State Governments.”
The problem of cattle smuggling across the porous Indo-Bangla border is rampant, with the Border Security Force making a total of 1,68,801 seizures in 2016 (Jan-Dec). These seizures were largely from the areas of North 24 Pargana, Murshidabad, Malda, Nadia and Dakshin Dinajpur in West Bengal and Dhubri in Assam, the Committee reported.