Centre proposes Aadhaar-type cards for cows to tackle illegal smuggling

New Delhi: The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Monday that in order to tackle illegal smuggling of cows and other cattle, it had accepted the recommendation of an expert group to provide a tamper-proof unique identification number, (UIN) using poly-urethane tags, for the animals.

The Centre gave this response before a bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that was hearing a PIL filed by Akhil Bharat Krishi Goseva Sangh seeking appropriate steps to protect cows and prevent smuggling of cattle into Bangladesh.

The petitioner claimed that there was rampant smuggling of live cattle across the border to Bangladesh, which had led to depletion of the country’s cattle wealth.

Each animal would be tagged with an UIN, with proper record of identification details (age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body colour, horn type, tail switch, etc).

Also, a state-level database may be uploaded on a website that would be linked with a national online database.

State governments bordering Bangladesh may ban livestock markets within 20 km from the international border, the Centre said.

Enforcement agencies working in areas near the India-Bangladesh border must lay emphasis on intelligence and information on smuggling of animals, so that steps could be taken to prevent cattle smuggling, the Centre added.