Dehradun, September 19: Uttarakhand assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution for seeking declaration ‘Rashtra Mata’ status for cows. The resolution will be sent to the Union government for further consideration. Minister of animal husbandry, Rekha Arya tabled the resolution. “The last BJP government made Uttarakhand Protection of Cow Progeny Act, banning cow slaughter in the state. This time we want to ban cow killing in the country,” reported Hindustan Times quoting Arya as saying.

The opposition raised concerns on the resolution. The leader of opposition Indira Hridyesh raised the question on government’s stance on bovines roaming on streets. On the other hand, Congress chief Pritam Singh supported the resolution.

The state government claimed that the population of abandoned cows will be reduced in the next 10 years. R Meenakshi Sundaram, secretary animal husbandry claimed that in a decade the government would be able to reduce 20-25% stray bovine. In 2007, the state government passed Uttarakhand Protection of Cow Progeny Act which prohibited the slaughter of cow progeny for meat. Soon after taking over as chief minister of the state, Trivendra Singh Rawat gave assurance to work for the welfare of cows

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