JOIN USAnti-slaughter law hasn't troubled anyone: Minister
Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chauhan on Saturday rejected the Congress's claim that the law prohibiting cattle slaughter has had an adverse impact on farmers.
"The anti-slaughter law has not caused trouble or loss to anybody. The Congress is desperate and lying," Chauhan told a news conference.
Chauhan pointed out that the law against cattle slaughter was introduced by the S Nijalingappa-led Congress government. "Our government has only amended the law to make penal provisions more stringent. The amendment has resulted in an increase in the population of cows," the minister said.
He was responding to Karnataka Congress' communications chief Priyank Kharge who said the law had pushed farmers and the leather industry into distress. Kharge also said the government's Punyakoti cow adoption scheme was a failure. The Congress leader had accused the government of pressurising its employees to contribute to the scheme.
"Government employees have donated to the Punyakoti scheme voluntarily," Chauhan clarified. "The scheme has received a good response from citizens. So far, 2,665 people have donated Rs 21.45 lakh," he said.
The construction of goshalas in every district is under progress, the minister said. He also denied Kharge's claim of corruption in the supply of fodder to goshalas. "Fodder procurement happens under the deputy commissioners. There's no scope for corruption," he said.
Chauhan had a political explanation for the Congress's opposition to the new law. "JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has announced that his party would appoint a Muslim deputy chief minister if voted to power. This has unsettled Congress. That's why Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah says they'll withdraw the anti-slaughter law," he said.