7 years on, Bill on cattle feed gets President's assent

The President of India has finally given assent to a seven-year-old Bill passed by the Vidhan Sabha to regulate the quality of cattle feed, concentrates and mineral mixtures. The Punjab Regulation of Cattle Feed, Concentrates and Mineral Mixtures Bill, 2018, will now come into force after the gazette notification is published this week.

The law will ensure a standard quality of cattle feed, concentrates and minerals in the feed that is given to 25 lakh cattle and 40 lakh buffaloes in the state. As many as 2,000 cattle feed manufacturers, who had no rules and regulations governing them, will come under the ambit of this law. The aim is to boost milk production by ensuring that the animals get high quality feed.

This Bill was passed by the Vidhan Sabha in 2018 when the Congress government was in power, with the purpose of improving livestock health and production. However, after it was passed, the then Legal Remembrancer refused to give assent to enact the law, saying it required presidential assent as “it imposes reasonable restriction on freedom of trade”.

The Tribune has learnt that he had opined that though states could impose reasonable restrictions in the public interest, any Bill or amendment for this purpose required the President’s prior sanction. As a result, the Bill was sent to the President in 2019 and had since been on the back burner. “We had been taking up the matter with the Centre regularly, with the state government maintaining that enacting the law was the only way to go forward in dairy farming, which besides agriculture, is the main source of income for rural households,” Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Rahul Bhandari told The Tribune.

All manufacturers and dealers of cattle feed and concentrates will have to first register themselves within three months of the date this is notified. This mandatory registration will be valid for three years. Every manufacturer or dealer will have to maintain records, and the registration authority will have the power to conduct searches and take samples of feeds, concentrates and minerals.