Fulfilling a promise made during the Assembly elections, the Uttarakhand government on Tuesday tabled in the Vidhan Sabha a bill to ban cow slaughter in the state.
The Uttarakhand Protection of Cow Progeny Bill, 2007 was tabled by Animal Husbandry Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat amid uproarious scenes by the opposition members.
Under the bill, cow slaughter will be an offence punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may be extended up to 10 year.
The measure also prohibits persons to free cows for wandering after milching. It envisages the state government and NGOs to establish institutions necessary for taking care of uneconomic cow progeny.
In its election manifesto this year, the BJP had promised to bring a measure to ban cow slaughter in the state.
Meanwhile, Congress expressed doubts over the bill saying the BJP government was fulfilling the RSS agenda.
"BJP is being driven by communal RSS agenda, but the party's efforts over the protection of cow have completely failed in states like Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh", said state Congress spokesman Surendra Kumar.