The Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021, approved by the state’s cabinet last week, is a bad idea. It has the potential to deepen communal polarisation, disrupt dairy and cattle trade, and disturb diet patterns of people residing in the Northeast. Any disruption of cattle trade in Assam will impact the supply of meat in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh. Heavy-handed regulation, of the sort proposed in the Bill, is likely to stall trade and cause a spike in meat prices. Meghalaya has already flagged its concern about the proposed law.

Source: Indian Express July 14, 2021 21:56 UTC