SINKING DESERT SHIP

The Camel Act was meant to save Rajasthan’s state animal. Instead, it has led to dwindling numbers and despairing herders. Can the Gehlot government save the camel?

- Rohit Parihar

DESPERATE EFFORTS ARE ON in Rajasthan to arrest the sharp decline in the population of its state animal, the camel. Last month, a cabinet sub-committee made recommendations to end what Arushi Malik, special secretary, animal husbandry, called a “sort of inspector and permit raj” brought on by the Rajasthan Camel (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 2015, which had linked the trade, transport, and deaths of camels to their slaughter and criminal prosecution. In a knee-jerk reaction, the then BJP government had given “holy cow status” to the camel, blaming its slaughter for meat as the sole reason for the decline in population over the years. The Ashok Gehlot government is relaxing the provisions of the Camel Act and has roped in the National Research Centre on Camels (NRCC), Bikaner, in a bid to reverse the decline. The sub-committee has suggested half a dozen amendments, including punishment/ restrictions only for slaughter and allowing transport for sale.