Assam Assembly passes cattle preservation Bill

Guwahati, August 13: The Assam Assembly today passed the Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021, after a proposal by Opposition MLAs to refer the Bill to a select committee of the House for vetting, was rejected.
The legislation will ensure that permission to sell and purchase beef is not granted in areas that are “predominantly inhabited by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and other non-beef eating communities or places that fall within five-kilometre radius of a temple, satra, and any other institution as may be prescribed by the authorities.
The Opposition legislators subsequently staged a walkout in protest after their proposal was not considered by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Sarma, during his reply on a discussion on the legislation, justified the passing of the Bill by saying that “the legislation had no ill intention, but will, on the contrary, strengthen communal harmony.”
Sarma said the Cattle Preservation Act of 1950 lacked sufficient legal provisions in order to regulate the consumption and transportation of cattle.
The Bill, which now has become a law, aims to regulate slaughter, consumption and transportation of cattle in Assam.