The Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021 — which prohibits the sale and purchase of beef in areas inhabited by non-beef-eating communities and within a radius of 5 km of a temple or a satra (Vaishnavite monastery) — was passed in the state Assembly Friday on the last day of the ongoing Budget session.
The new legislation will repeal the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 1950 and is aimed at regulating “slaughter, consumption, illegal transportation” of cattle. It also prohibits the inter-state transport of cattle to and from, as well as through Assam without valid documents — a clause that was included ostensibly to check cattle smuggling to Bangladesh, which shares a 263-kilometre-long border with Assam.
