Haryana government is all set introduce a bill in the Budget session to ban beef and cow slaughter in the state. Government intends to slap punishment under section 302, which amounts to murder, for those who caught slaughtering cows and possessing beef. Haryana Agriculture Minister, Om Parkash Dhankar said that the state will introduve a bill for "protection and upkeep" of cows. The proposed act is called 'Govansh Sanrakashan and Gau Samvardhan (Cow Protection and Cow Conservation and Development) Bill'.

"For the scientific test and analysis, government is considering establishing laboratories to differentiate beef from meat of that of other animal species. Test reports of these laboratories will be valid evidence in the court of law," Dhankar said. The state will provide financial and technical support to cow welfare organisations for taking care of sick, injured, stray and uneconomic cows.

The law would be amended to raise the punishment for cow slaughter from the present five years imprisonment to penalties equal to the crime of murder. At present the maximum punishment for cow slaughter in Haryana is five years jail with fine up to Rs 5000.

By Premji