Tripura's Left Front government will not implement the new cattle trade and slaughter rules as it is against the interests of the people, a state minister said.
"The new cattle trade and slaughter rules framed by the central government are against the interest of the people. We will not carry out the new rules," Tripura's Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Minister Aghore Debbarma said.
"The central government is yet to send us the new cattle trade and slaughter rules. They did not consult us on this issue," he said.
"If people are not able to sell their cattle, how will they take care of livestock when it turns unnecessary for them? How will it be determined that the cattle being purchased from the market is for slaughtering?" said Debbarma, also the member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist central committee.
With the aim to prevent cruelty to animals, the union forest, environment and climate change ministry last week modified rules, making it mandatory to ensure that cattle are not bought or sold at cattle markets for slaughtering. The list of animals includes cows, bulls, buffaloes, heifers, calves and camels.