Maldhari community opposes Gujarat govt bill on stray cattle menace control

The cattle herder Maldhari community is strongly opposing the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and moving) in Urban Areas Bill passed by the assembly last week, igniting politics in the state in the run-up to the assembly election.

The bill seeks to regulate stray cattle across major cities in the state, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Junagadh apart from 162 other municipalities notified as urban areas. However, the bill triggered instant resistance from the Maldhari community, which started an agitation as the legislation provides for stringent action against the owners of the stray cattle.

The bill mandates that the cattle owner get a licence from the authorities and get the cattle tagged within 15 days. It also stipulates that the failure to tag the cattle within specified time will attract a penalty of ₹10,000 or imprisonment up to one year or both. It has provisions for a Rs ₹50,000 fine and one year of imprisonment for anyone assaulting an officer on duty during the raids to impound stray cattle and fine of ₹5,000 for seizing the stray cattle for the first time which would double for the second time and will attract a first information report (FIR) along with a fine of ₹ 10,000 for the third time.