No issues if jallikattu norms are followed: Animal Welfare Board of India boss
By Express News Service | Published: 16th December 2017 01:58 AM |
Last Updated: 16th December 2017 10:14 AM | A+A A- |
CHENNAI: Chennai will see jallikattu ahead of the Pongal festival next year and the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) will not stop it; rather it will form guidelines for the sport, said Board chairman SP Gupta, who took charge recently.
The bull-taming sport will be held in a plot opposite the Madras Crocodile Bank on the East Coast Road on January 7, announced the organisers of the event, Tamil Nadu Jallikattu Peravai and Chennai Jallikattu Amaippu, on Thursday. Around 500 youngsters from 17 districts across the State and an equal number of bulls have been selected to take part in the event.
Responding to a question at a press conference on Friday, Gupta said, “As long as the event is organised within the framework of guidelines, it will be allowed. The Board is not against the sentiments of people of a state or their festivals. Our mandate is only to prevent cruelties to animals.” He said that the Board would form guidelines in association with the State and district administration.
Gupta, who emphasised that cruelty to animals would be penalised, said that while they might be used for the game, their slaughter must come down. Slaughtering is the highest form of cruelty, he said, adding that the Board would work towards reducing it.
Apart from monitoring cows, the Board has also launched the National Rabies Control Programme with grants from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Under this programme, the Board has given `5 crore to Haryana to take up animal birth control. Similarly, Uttarakhand has also received a grant of `28 lakh to implement the programme.
A total of `1,000 crore is required for implementing the programme across the country, Gupta said, adding that he had requested the Ministry to provide funds.
The rabies control programme will be launched in Chennai city very soon, he disclosed and said that a meeting would be held over this matter with the Greater Chennai Corporation when needed.
The Board will organise an animal welfare fortnight from January 14 across the country, Gupta said and added that the programme was aimed at spreading awareness among people about prevention of cruelties to animals.
