The Centre on Tuesday approved the enactment of a central law to prohibit slaughter of cow under Article 252 (1) of the Constitution.
The Centre will act only if two or more states request it to formulate a law on the issue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said after a Cabinet meeting in New Delhi.
The Cabinet also approved a proposal to approach the state governments to adopt a resolution on the subject in their legislatures and forward the same to the Centre.
This, Swaraj said, would enable the Centre to seek the consent of the states on the matter.
Though many states have laws in this respect, they are neither uniform nor stringent, as there are provisions allowing slaughter of old cows, she said, adding at times healthy ones are also slaughtered.
Swaraj, however, made it clear that such a central legislation would not be binding on the states.
The states where cow slaughter is not banned are Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Kerala and Lakshadweep.