Home Affairs' Standing Committee discuss cattle smuggling issue, express concern over rehabilitation of rescued cattle

By Payal Mehta
New Delhi [India], September 13 : The standing committee of Home Affairs chaired by Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday had a detailed discussion on the issue of cattle smuggling across the borders and the role of the Border Security Force (BSF).
Several top officials of the BSF including DG BSF were present at this meeting.
The main concern expressed by people from the ruling party BJP and the opposition party Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) was concerning the condition of the cattle that were recovered by the BSF foiling the attempt to smuggle.
Most members agree that the laws that were recently tweaked regarding how to handle cattle that was recovered, needed an overhaul.
"Before the change in the laws any goods including cattle that were seized by the BSF at the India-Bangladesh border had to be handed over to the customs however as per the amended rules it is now the responsibility of the BSF to house the cows and hand them over to animal welfare bodies," said a member of the standing committee.
"This was largely ordered because the customs did not have the due infrastructure to keep the cattle," a member present on the committee told ANI.
"Another catch to the situation, worse was the cattle auctioned by the customs was bought again by the cattle smugglers. Looking at the situation it was decided by the MHA in an order in 2018 to amend the rules and thereby allow the BSF itself to hand these cattle to animal welfare bodies," another member told ANI.
Sources present in the meeting said that BSF DG said that while they were trying their best to ensure that the cattle smuggling trade was reduced in the best way possible, the forces were crippled. Also, infrastructure and transportation are the biggest challenges.
"In states like Bengal and Meghalaya, it was very difficult to find these animal welfare bodies close to the border. Simultaneously, it was a task to transport the cattle as most of the cattle being smuggled consisted of aged animals and they could not stand the travel to another location stretching around five to seven hours," sources said BSF DG told the committee.
Interestingly, while political parties like the BJP and TMC have been at loggerheads in Bengal and cattle smuggling and cattle trade have been a flashpoint between the two sides, in this issue, they both raised a similar concern.