All hat and no cattle

Objections to the new cattle business policy are not justified

At a time when concerns about the injudicious cattle trading policy of last year were allayed with the release of its suitably amended version for public comments, Union minister Maneka Gandhi, who is also an animal rights activist, has thrown a spanner in the works by raising objections, some of which are not entirely indisputable. The modifications in the policy were necessitated as the trading rules notified in May 2017 virtually barred the sale and purchase of cattle from animal mandis for slaughtering. It bode ill for the country’s vibrant livestock sector that has made India the world’s largest producer