As part of strengthening its protest over the ban on cattle trade for slaughter, the Kerala Assembly convened a special meeting to discuss the issue on Wednesday.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presented a motion in the special session to discuss the issue.
"I present it before the Assembly to discuss the grave situation in the state followed by the Union notification to ban cattle trade for sale," he said.
The CM reiterated his statement that this is an infringement on the rights of the states and on the right of individuals’ choice to eat.
“The Union notification which states that cattle should not be traded unless for farming purposes is a major setback for the state. Due to this notification, the import of cattle from other states to Kerala has already been affected. In due course it will affect the availability of milk in the state,” he said.
“Even for milk production, Kerala imports calf from other states. The Union’s regulation on cattle trade will impact this also. This will affect the state’s achievement in milk production,” he said.
Vijayan also mentioned the government’s Chief Economic Adviser Aravind Subramaniam who had warned the other day about the economic impact of the ban on cattle trade. “Since it as an infringement on people’s rights to choose food, the regulation will also lead to law and order problems. Many animals accommodated in zoos eat only cattle meat, the ban will also adversely affect availability of their food. In Kerala, in a year, trade of cattle meat to the tune of Rs 6,552 crore is taking place,” he added.
Senior CPI (M) leader VS Achuthanandan said that ban on cattle trade for sale is a national disaster.
The special one-day session was called to finalise the steps to be taken by the government on the decision of the Centre.
Earlier, Minister for Forest and Animal Husbandry had said that the had considered various options including approaching the Supreme Court and bringing in legislation. On June 2, the Kerala cabinet decided to convene a special one-day Assembly session in this regard.
Kerala had asked the Union government to roll back the notification maintaining that it would adversely affect the meat and dairy sectors. As many as five lakh people are working in the cattle trade sector in the state.