The Punjab Animal Feed, Concentrates, and Mineral Mixtures Bill, 2018, passed by the Punjab Assembly, has been approved by the President after seven years. This will enable the Punjab government to monitor the quality of animal feed in the state to ensure a balanced diet. With the enactment of this bill, the state government will be able to monitor the quality of animal feed and take necessary action against those producing substandard feed.
According to reports, in 2018, the then Congress government in Punjab passed the Punjab Animal Feed, Concentrates, and Mineral Mixtures Bill, 2018, in the Assembly to improve animal health and production and enhance the quality of feed. After the bill was passed by the Assembly, the then-legal advisors refused to approve it and claimed to send it to the President for consultation. Following this, the bill was sent to the President in 2019, receiving approval after a seven-year gap.
On the other hand, Rahul Bhandari, Principal Secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department of Punjab, stated that he had been raising the issue of a bill to improve the quality of animal feed with the central government for a long time. The bill was approved after much deliberation. The legal implementation of the Punjab Animal Feed, Concentrates, and Mineral Mixture Bill, 2018, will boost the dairy farming sector in the state.
This bill will improve the quality of animal feed and increase milk production. It will also boost villagers’ income from businesses other than farming. According to sources, this bill will improve the quality of feed for the state’s 2.5 million cattle and 4 million buffaloes. This will help in making rules and regulations to monitor the quality of fodder produced by about two thousand animal feed producers in the state.
