At Pushkar fair, renewed concern over Rajasthan’s 2015 camel law

• The Rajasthan Camel (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 2015 has been met with continued resistance and protests by camel herders and cattle rearers in Rajasthan, alleging loss of livelihood and business.
• The controversial law has been debated in the Rajasthan Assembly, with the Rajasthan High Court taking suo motu notice of camel herders' suffering.
• People from the Raika and Raibari communities of camel herders have been loud in their warning to the government that until the legislation is changed, the camel population in Rajasthan would continue to decline.

Camel conservation law of Rajasthan

• intends to ban camel killing, as well as to limit temporary movement or export of camels from Rajasthan.
• In any form, no one may possess, sell, transport for sale, or cause to be sold or transferred camel flesh or camel meat products.
• No person shall export or cause to be exported any camel inside the State, whether directly or via an agent, servant, or other person, for the purpose of slaughter or with knowledge that it may be or is likely to be slaughtered.
• A 'Competent Authority' may grant a special permission in the required manner for their export from Rajasthan for agricultural or dairy farming purposes or for participation in an animal fair.
• A competent authority, according to the legislation, is the collector of a district, as well as any other officer whose competence is granted by the state government by announcement in the official gazette.

reasons for the law being passed

• The camel conservation legislation was approved by the government at the time, noting the animal's endangered status and the necessity to begin serious conservation and preservation measures.
• ""There have been several reports of camels and their offspring being killed on purpose.
• Thousands of camels are transported or carried out of Rajasthan to be slaughtered in other states.
• ""In light of camels' social, cultural, and economic value and contribution, and in order to secure their survival, it is in the public interest to establish a new legislation prohibiting the killing of camels as well as the export of such animals for slaughter.""

Impact

• Permission to transfer camels outside of the state, as required by the 2015 Act, might take months. This has resulted in a decrease in the number of buyers from states other than Rajasthan, who were formerly the principal buyers of camels during livestock fairs.
• The difficulties in finding consumers has put camel herders in a bad financial condition since the ban was passed.
• Camel farmers have been protesting for months, their fears heightened by the fact that the camel population in Rajasthan has been steadily declining.

Government's Stand

• Rajasthan is home to 84.43 percent of all camels in the country, and their number has steadily declined over the previous 30 years.
• A government committee has agreed that some changes to the 2015 Act will be made to allow camel migration and to encourage farmers who had stopped maintaining camels after the law was introduced to do so again.
• The Rajasthan High Court is also keeping an eye on the situation, having appointed counsel Prateek Kasliwal as an amicus curiae to assist the court.