Mumbai, July 17 (IANS) Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam in the state Assembly on Thursday announced that the government will launch a special campaign to ban cow slaughter in unauthorised slaughterhouses across the state.

“Cow slaughter will not be tolerated anywhere in the state. The government will take strict action in this regard. In the case of cow slaughter in unauthorised slaughterhouses in the state, action will be taken by launching a special campaign against the,” he said in his reply to a calling attention moved by member Sanjay Upadhyay regarding the ban on cow slaughter.

Stating that the law will be amended to take strict action against repeat offenders of cow slaughter, Minister Kadam said that the current law will be amended to increase the punishment for repeat offenders of cow slaughter to 10 years and increase the fine.

“Such offenders will be verified to take action under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Cow guards or some NGOs report cow slaughter cases to the police on their own. In such cases, action will be taken by the police. There will be coordination between NGOs, cow guards and the police. Also, action will be taken after verifying the issuance of identity cards to cow guards,” he said.

“Cowsheds are run in the state through the Animal Husbandry Department. In this, old non-milking cows and street animals are kept. The government will help with this. In Badlapur (West), the police have arrested one accused in the case. Two other accused are being searched. Action will be taken against the hotel in Wani city of Yavatmal district, where beef was found. The license of the hotel will be cancelled as per the requirement,” he said.

Meanwhile, Industry Minister Uday Samant announced that a high-level committee will be formed for the sustainable development of Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation, and the overall development of this city will be carried out.

He was responding to a calling attention motion moved by member Rais Sheikh regarding development work in the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation area.

Minister Samant said that through this high-level committee, a comprehensive plan for the development of Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation will be prepared, and accordingly, development works will be carried out in this city on a fast track. The project of 8,468 houses approved in Bhiwandi city was cancelled as its deadline was about to expire.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a planning proposal will be sent to the central government in the next three months to start the second phase on time.

Also, the work of the first phase of the metro is underway in Bhiwandi, and a technical inspection will be done to decide whether the second phase will be underground or above ground, said Minister Samant.

–IANS

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