Restart bullock-cart race at Kila Raipur: Jaiveer Shergill

Chandigarh, February 11

BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill today met Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri in New Delhi and sought his intervention for the resumption of bullock- cart racing in the Kila Raipur Sports Festival known as ‘Rural Olympics of India’.

In a statement issued today, he said that during his meeting with the minister, he had urged Puri to get the President’s assent to The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Punjab Amendment) Bill-2019 that will pave the way for the resumption of the bullock-cart race at the annual sports event.

Elaborating on the matter, Shergill said that he told Puri that bullock-cart racing was associated with the rich culture and heritage of Punjab and ‘Punjabiyat’ for the past so many decades. “Kila Raipur rural games have been organised continuously since 1933 in Ludhiana district.

Shergill informed Puri that because of the popularity of the bullock cart race in Punjab, The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Punjab Amendment) Bill-2019 was passed in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, after which it was sent to the President for his assent, but till now permission has not been received from the Centre to resume the race.