These represent a wasteful deployment of government machinery and unnecessary imposts, at best, in response to a totally manmade problem. Banning cattle slaughter makes no sense when bullocks are no longer required for ploughing fields, drawing water from wells for irrigation, separating grain from chaff or transporting produce to markets. Till recently, when cattle slaughter bans were only on paper, farmers sold their spent animals to butchers and used that money to purchase new cows. With no takers for their unproductive cattle, farmers are at their wits’ end — damned if they keep them, damned if they abandon them. A time may soon come when governments will have to decide whether to allocate budgetary resources for cattle shelters or schools and hospitals.

Source: Indian Express January 06, 2019 18:56 UTC