Meghalaya MP asks PM Modi to reconsider ban on sale of cattle for slaughter

SHILLONG: Former Union minister and Congress MP Vincent H Pala has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to exempt ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets in tribal and beef consuming states like Meghalaya.

Prime Minister should exempt applications of the new livestock rules banning cow slaughter and livestock trade in tribal and beef-consuming states like Meghalaya, Pala said today.

In a formal petition to the Prime Minister, Pala urged that formal views from all state governments should also be taken into consideration to review the rules and allow implementation of the same with state-wise necessary notifications.

Meghalaya was ranked the top beef-consuming state in the country where 80.74 per cent of the population eat beef, ahead of Lakshadweep and Nagaland, according to the latest National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

"Tribal states like Meghalaya, etc. should be exempted from the application of these rules (the newly promulgated Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulations of livestock Markets) rules, 2017)," Pala, the Shillong MP said in the petition submitted to the PMO last evening.

The former Union minister of state for Minority Affairs said the new rules should be rolled back as only Parliament can amend the relevant Act and states must be consulted before any decision in that regards as it also affects the federal functions of the subject matter.