Two Union Ministers — Maneka Gandhi and Prakash Javadekar — on Thursday locked horns over culling of animals with the former saying there was “lust” for killing in the Environment Ministry.
Javadekar, who is the Minister for Environment and Forests, on his part said animal culling is allowed on the request of states to protect crops and restricted to a particular areas and time period.
The outburst by Maneka, who holds the Women and Child Development portfolio and is an animal rights activist, came in the wake of the recent killing of ‘nilgai’ (blue bulls) in Bihar, which she termed as “biggest ever massacre”. Around 200 Nilgais were reported to have been gunned down in Bihar in the past one week.
Maneka said the Environment Ministry “is writing to every state government, allowing them to provide a list of animals that can be killed so that the Centre can give permission. “I don’t understand this lust for killing of animals. It is shameful,” she said.
