Railway orders on cattle transport

By Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jain , E-mail :jeevdaya@rediffmail.com

The railway orders for restarting transport of cattle has been issued after distorting many sections of Act & Rules.Transport of Animals Rules under Sec 96 state:

TRANSPORT OF ANIMALS(AMENDMENT) RULES, 2001

S.O.269 (E) - Whereas certain draft rules further to amend the Transport of Animals Rules, 1978 were published as required by sub-section (1) of section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (59 of 1960) under the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment number S.O. 1164 (E) dated 26th December 2000 in the Gazette of India. Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3. Sub Section (ii) dated the 27th December, 2000 inviting objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby, before the expiry of the period of sixty days from the date on which copies of the Gazette containing the said notification are made available to the public.

And, whereas copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on the 1st January 2001.
And, whereas no objection or suggestion has been received from the public in respect of the said draft rules by the Central Government.

Now, therefore in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) and (2) of section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 (59 of 1960), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Transport of Animals Rules 1978, namely -

(1) These rules may be called the Transport of Animals (Amendment) Rules, 2001. 
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. 
2. In the Transport of Animal Rules 1978 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules), after chapter VI, the following chapters shall be inserted, namely : 

Chapter IX
Miscellaneous

96. Issue of certificate before transportation -
(1) A valid certificate issued by an officer or any person or Animal Welfare Organisation duly recognised and authorised for this purpose by the Animal Welfare Board of India or the Central Government shall be procured by any person making transport of any animal before transportation of such animal verifying that all the relevant Central and State Acts, rules and orders pertaining to the said animals including the rules relating to transport of such animals have been duly complied with and that the animal is not being transported for any purpose contrary to the provision of any law. 

(2) In the absence of such certificate, the carrier shall refuse to accept the consignment for transport. 
Explanation : For the purpose of this rule the certificate shall be issued in such form as may be specified for this purpose by the Central Government.

97. Cancellation of permit or authorisation for transport- 
(1) In the event of contravention or non compliance of any of the rules contained in these rule for transport of animals, if it is pointed out in writing by any officer or persons or Animal Welfare Organisations authorised for this purpose by the Animal Welfare Board of India or the Central Government, then, any permit or authorisation issued for such transport shall be immediately cancelled by the concerned authority and it shall be the duty of the police to stop the further transport even from the intermediary station and proceed against the said offenders and deal with the animal in accordance with law.

(2) The custody of the animals immediately after unloading from the rail wagons, truck or any other vehicle shall be given to the authorised Animal Welfare Organisation if available, till the competent authority or the magistrate having jurisdiction decides about their care and upkeep. 
98. General conditions of transport -

(1) Animals to be transported shall be healthy and in good condition and such animals shall be examined by a veterinary doctor for freedom from infectious diseases and their fitness to undertake the journey; provided that the nature and duration of the proposed journey shall be taken into account while deciding upon the degree of fitness.

(2) An animal which is unfit for transport shall not be transported and the animals who are new born, diseased, blind emaciated, lame, fatigued or having given birth during the preceding seventy two hours or likely to give birth during transport shall not be transported.

(3) Pregnant and very young animals shall not be mixed with other animals during transport. 
(4) Different classes of animals shall be kept separately during transport. 
(5) Diseased animals, whenever transported for treatment, shall not be mixed with other animals
(6) Troublesome animals shall be given tranquilisers before loading during transport. 
(7) Animals shall be transported in their on-farm social groups (established atleast one week prior to journey).

But in orders by Railway Board issued on14.7.2004 - 
it has been mentioned that consignor has to produce a certificate that all state and Central Rules have been followed. So here it has not made clear that, certificate issuing authority must be authorised by AWBI to issue the Same. It has also been omitted that the animal is not being transported for any purpose contrary to the provision of any law.

Similarly ,as per AWBI's recommendation that AWBI and its representative must be informed well in advance about movement of cattle by trains,its route and details of consignor and consignee,stoppage etc.the Railway Board seems to be in hurry so it has reduced the timelimit to one day,to help the Cattle traders without caring for Rles and Laws passed by the Parliament.

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