New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying S P Singh Baghel told Parliament on Tuesday that the Centre has no plans to enact any law to declare the cow as the national animal.
In a written reply to a question by senior BJP leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in the Lok Sabha, Baghel said, “No, sir. According to Article 246(3) of the Constitution, under the division of legislative powers between the Centre and the states, the conservation of animals is a matter on which the state legislatures have exclusive powers to make laws.”
He added that the Union government has been implementing the Rashtriya Gokul Mission since December 2014 to support and strengthen initiatives taken by states and Union Territories for the promotion, protection and rearing of cows.
On milk production, Baghel informed the House that India produced 239.3 million tonnes of milk in 2024, of which cow milk accounted for 53.12 per cent and buffalo milk contributed 43.62 per cent.
