With Maharashtra’s long-pending Bill widening its ban on cow slaughter getting Presidential assent on Monday, The Hindu took a look at the status of the legislation across the country.
Ritwika Sharma and Alok Prasanna Kumar, fellows at the Delhi-based Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, compiled all State-level legislation and amendments on the slaughter of cows and other types of cattle for The Hindu.
The data shows that Indian States can be classified into five categories — north-eastern States with no restrictions on cattle slaughter; Kerala with no law but a caveat; Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam which allow the slaughter of cattle with a certificate; Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Goa and Odisha which ban cow slaughter, but allow the slaughter of other cattle with a certificate; and the rest of India which bans the slaughter of all cattle.
Beef is less popular than other meats, The Hindu’s analysis of data from the 2011-12 National Sample Survey shows, with just four per cent of rural Indians and five per cent of urban Indians saying that they consumed beef within the last week. However, consumption varies widely by State; the average person from Nagaland eats half a kilo of beef in a month, while the average person from Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh doesn’t eat any.
Correction
The graphic accompanying “Cattle slaughter in varying degrees” (March 4, 2015) erroneously says that Karnataka has banned all cattle slaughter. Actually, the State permits the slaughter of cattle other than cows with a 'fit for slaughter' certificate. The graphic has been corrected on March 4, 2015