Ban on sale of bovine animals for slaughter has been banned in India on 27th May 2017. Is it a politically motivated step by the current right wing Government as being argued by many in the political front or is it part of a larger agenda with deeper implications?? Is it an isolated move or is there a clear pattern in what we are witnessing in the political as well as economic spheres of the country over these years?? Have finance capital and certain powers controlling power centers across the globe imposing their decisions over us and we fail to see what is the real intention behind many happenings and policy decisions??

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THE BEEF STORY- IS IT AS SIMPLE AS IT SOUNDS??
Ban on sale of bovine animals for slaughter has been banned in India on 27th May 2017. Is it a
politically motivated step by the current right wing Government as being argued by many in
the political front or is it part of a larger agenda with deeper implications?? Is it an isolated
move or is there a clear pattern in what we are witnessing in the political as well as economic
spheres of the country over these years?? Have finance capital and certain powers controlling
power centers across the globe imposing their decisions over us and we fail to see what is the
real intention behind many happenings and policy decisions?? What I am discussing is a theory
in making and the opinions and conclusions drawn here are nothing but my own whims!!
CATTLE- THE LAST STRAW OF INDIAN FARMER
India Ranks First in Milk Production, Accounting for 18.5 Per Cent of World Production and
the country has a whopping cattle population of 512.05 million1 numbers in 2012. Another
interesting factor is that the Female Cattle (Cows) Population has increased by 6.52% over the
previous census (2007) and the total number of female cattle in 2012 is 122.9 million numbers.
With agriculture becoming unviable and the farmer suicides continue to happen unabated over
these years -Approximately 36 thousand farmers committed suicide in last three years-, diary activities
is the last straw for the farmers in India to survive. Diary activities contribute to more than 60%
of the average annual income to most of the marginal farmers, who are also dairy farmers by
default. Cattles which are out of their productive age are sold to traders. There cattle are in turn
slaughtered and de-skinned. The pattern of the consumption of thus slaughtered cattle varies
substantially across states.
Though cows and calves are not slaughtered in certain parts of the county, all other cattle-
bullocks, buffaloes, goats, camel etc. are slaughtered across all the States and cows which are
out of their productive age are used for meat in many Indian states. Indian farmers, most of
them deeply debt ridden get a decent price (In a range of INR 20-30K) for the old cattle they sell.
This price is something that helps them keep afloat mainly during the distress months. The
country wide ban on sale of cattle made it practically impossible for farmers to sell their aging
cattle and the violence unleashed by the cow vigilantes practically severed the whole chain of
sale and purchase of aging cattle. The burden of keeping the unproductive cattle until their
natural death falls on the farmer who is already struggling to feed his family. This coupled with
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Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Agriculture
(http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=109280)

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severing the chance of selling the cattle for a decent price makes the life in village even more
unviable for the majority of farmers in India, who falls into the category of marginal farmers2.
MAKING LIVING IN VILLAGES NEAR IMPOSSIBLE:
With the last resort of rural livelihood slowly becoming unviable, rural population will have no
other option left but to migrate to urban settings in search of a viable livelihood alternative. This
may cause a sea change in the Indian demography. Indian demography is already witnessing a
changing trend over last one and a half decade, with the rate of migration of rural population to
urban settings is at its all-time high. The rural population which used to be 80% of the total
population of the country in 1960 has fallen to 67% in 20153. Government of India is expecting
that 70+% of the total population will reside in urban settings by the year 2030. This require
some drastic intervention and what else can work better than making all the primary sector
activities unviable for the rural population so that they leave their soil at the villages, live in the
urban settings and probably end up working for the corporates!!.
And what will happen to our beloved cow goddesses among all these mega plans?? No Gomata
will bleed in the holy land of Bharat!! All those gods and goddesses walking in four legs will be
sky lifted beyond the boundaries of our sacred soil and treated royally in the slaughter houses
abroad; and subsequently decorate the dining tables of Arabs, Europeans, Americans and even
the Infidel Indian who does not understand the value of cattle in our scared culture!! For the
infidels in India, packed beef will be made available in select supermarkets. After all why miss
that market also!!
Isn’t these conclusion convincing enough?? Let’s try connecting some more dots to see whether
it is even remotely possible!!
CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL LAND OWNERSHIP AND INCENTIVISING URBAN
MIGRATION- A STRATEGIC MANEUVER IN MAKING
Agriculture land in India is owned by millions of small and marginal farmers.
According to the Agriculture Census 2011, the total number of operational holdings in India
numbered 138.35 million with an average size of 1.15 hectares. Of the total holdings, 85 per cent
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Nearly 70 percentage of Indian farmers fall under the category of small and marginal farmers against less than 1
percentage of the farmer population holding 10+ hectors of land
3
World bank data and estimates- http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS

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are in marginal and small farm categories of less than 2 hectares and these millions of farmers
take their own masters when it comes to decide on what crop to grow. Of course there are
societal factor, but the farmer community of one area make a rational decisions on what to
grow. Even though the corporates play a major role in deciding the prices of agricultural
produces, they still do not have a decisive role in the production side. The fragmented nature of
agriculture land and the laws prohibiting the acquisition of agriculture land in large tracts acted
as impediments blocking the smooth entry of corporates into commercialized agriculture.
Don’t worry big boys, the Government
will help you out with a great solution;
remember the provisions of the Land bill4
tabled on the Lok Sabha a year back? The
bill could not be passed owing to want of
absolute majority of the ruling party in
both the houses of the parliament. As they
are inching towards the required majorly
over successive polls, the bill is expected to
clear the house proceedings by early 2018
itself. Once the bill gets passed, the corporate acquisition of land will become a smooth affair.
They can even acquire fertile land for Industrial purpose. And yes, very soon agriculture also
will be notified as an industry if the mode of doing it fulfills certain criterions!!!
But this may invite resilience from the farmer folks isn’t it?? Well, let’s make rural life miserable
meanwhile!!; let the Government intervene through price crashes and cattle sale ban and by not
improving rural infrastructure and irrigation facilities. Rather than trying to make rural life
better, let the Ministry of Rural Development concentrate on just one thing- Skill development!!
Let the rural youth be skilled in modular employable skills and get certified. These skills will in
turn help them get an entry level job in the urban market once they leave their villages. The
wording used in the policy document is so soothing- ‘Making urban migration less painful’ by
skilling rural youth in minor vocations.
As a development enthusiast working on Government schemes over last 10+ years, I used to see
the term ‘reverse migration5’ finding place in policy documents until last 5-6 years, where by
the priority was said to be (At least in paper) creating a livable environment in rural areas (Does
4
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/land-bill-six-facts-you-need-to-know/article6978832.ece
5
Coming back of people once migrated to cities back to villages.

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anyone remember the good old PURA6 Scheme anymore??). Policy documents these days
conveniently admit urban migration as a reality and even seek to indirectly incentivize
migration. Great going dudes!!
SMART, MINI SMART AND AMRUT CITIES- PREPARING OUR CITIES TO
ACCOUMMIDATE RURAL MIGRANT INFLUX
Smart cities and rapid transit systems- sound great yeh?? Isn’t it nice to imagine my beloved
countrymen living in Smart cities rather than in dirty villages? Our cities are getting equipped
to accommodate the imminent influx of rural population to the urban settings. Smart cities,
Mini Smart cities and AMRUT cities are getting ready with mega residential amenities and
rapid transit systems. In cities the square meters are counted vertically towards the sky, hence
keeping the real land requirement to build houses to the minimum. Welcome rural folks, your
days of misery are over. Sell off your land -which was giving you nothing but more debt year
after year- to the industrialist who recently offered you a good price. Get his money, buy a flat
in an AMRUT city nearby and live happily ever after!! How will you survive?? Alright, learn
some modular skills, get a job in the burgeoning manufacturing Industries next to your cities.
You know, India is the new manufacturing hub of the world!!
MAKE IN INDIA- MAKING INDIA THE MANUFACTURING HUB OF THE WORLD. BUT
HOW??
I do believe that the Make in India mission will become successful in creating India the
manufacturing hub of the world. The profitability of any manufacturing concern depends
highly on the availability of cheap labor force. China had the same and they have a mighty
manufacturing sector. India with its mammoth population has a chance provided she could
tame her billion plus population for Industrial jobs. In a country where more than 86% of the
work force is employed in the unorganized sector working in thousands of intertwined job
roles, a colossal plan is required to bring those millions to the fold of organized manufacturing
sector. Bringing millions farmers to the door steps of the manufacturing concerns- as discussed
previously- is one part of the plan; and what could be others??
6
Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) proposes that urban infrastructure and services be provided in rural hubs to
create economic opportunities outside of cities http://rural.nic.in/sites/downloads/pura/Presentation20to20PD,20DRDAs20-
2022032011.pdf

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CONSOLIDATING THE GREAT INDIAN UNORGANIZED SECTOR
Indian Unorganized sector employs a whopping 86% of the total work force in of the country
and contribute 48%7 of the GDP. This sector largely existed beyond the reach of corporate
intervention and hence the corporate sector has been mostly devoid of the wealth created in the
sector. Moreover, the omnipresence of unorganized sector act as a balancing factor in the
market by controlling prices of those articles which they produce hence creates a fair price
situation in the otherwise oligopolistic Indian market.
It is in the best interest of the finance capital to bring some of the best performing industries in
the unorganized sector into the fold of organized corporate sector. It won’t be possible unless
the very existence of unorganized sector is put in danger. This will leave a lot of people jobless
and you get more people to work like machines in your factories to make in India mission a
success.
Let’s analyze the plan of action for one of the most important unorganized sector-
LEATHER INDUSTRY:
One of the most prominent revenue spinners in the
unorganized sector, leather Industry in India has a
turnover of $ 12 billion. (That’s a pretty interesting
figure to get a damn share of, isn’t it??)
The Indian leather industry accounts for around 12.93 per
cent of the world’s leather production of hides/skins. The
country ranks second in terms of footwear and leather
garments production in the world and accounts for 9 per cent
of the world’s footwear production. Sadly for the corporates, they do not have absolute control over the
value chain.
The intricate web of informal relationship existed between the buyers of aging cattle, butchers,
local tanneries and various actors across the leather value chain makes it a typical unorganized
industry. Moreover, the actors in this value chain are predominantly constituted by members
from a particular religious community. Breaking the status quo in this sector is not an easy task
unless you have some really great friends at the Government eh!! Ban cattle trade, severe the
7
Contribution of the Unorganized sector to GDP Report of the Sub Committee of a NCEUS Task Force, Working
Paper No 2 National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector
http://nceuis.nic.in/Final_Booklet_Working_Paper_2.pdf

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existing web of supply, the unorganized leather Industry will collapse and the corporates will
occupy the vacuum. Moreover, once many of the existing small scale entrepreneurs gets kicked
out of the value chain, they end up working for the manufacturing sector instead for survival.
We know, ample supply of cheap labor is what decides the success of the Make in India
Mission!!
VIRTUAL BAN ON PET SHOPS- FURTHERING THE AGENDA
Through an Extraordinary Gazette notification, the Ministry of Forest and Environment,
Government of India, has banned the display and sale of ornamental fishes. The curbs will apply to
158 species of fishes. The ministry has conveyed that the curbs are in tune with the 2016 legislation
that seeks to protect animals from cruelty. The act also puts a virtual ban on the display and sale of
other pets and the new order forbids ornamental fishes to be kept in glass aquariums, and the
shops that keep such fishes or pets should have a veterinary doctor or an assistant veterinary
physician available full time. The message is clear. This is no country for small entrepreneurs in
India. Hey you petty entrepreneurs go and work in the factory and we the corporates will take
the load of running businesses. Anyone dare to chip in, we have governments to put entry
barrier like what they just did.
CONCLUSION:
From Milk to agriculture to leather to pet shops- demolition of the existing structure is
happening in the full swing. A dangerous cocktail of religion, pseudo nationalism and
calculated alienation of selected population are used meticulously so that the society accepts the
deconstruction without much of a resistance. The real agendas and issues remain in oblivion
while doing the best of damage what they can do. A silent but drastic wave of change is what is
awaiting us in the coming years.
Once the old system of unorganized production and sale start collapsing, the vacuum will be
filled in by the corporates and the millions who were part of the traditional unorganized
ecosystem will have to depend largely on the thriving manufacturing sector for a living. With
such a massive workforce available, the manufacturing sector can negotiate cheaper price for
the labor and Corporate India can afford to produce manufacturing goods at highly competitive
rates.
Corporates will produce everything for us- our food, our milk, our medicines, meat, fish, leather
articles for us, they will grow and sell pets for us, and everything will be organized and

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standardized. They will also tell you in a manner they choose as to what to buy, when to buy
and at what price to buy. Our markets, our complex value chains, our diversified production
and supply chains, everything that made India a diverse and complex country will be reduced
to an organized and standardized monolith. Standardization helps one predict the behavioral
pattern of the masses- who are consumers for the market forces- more precisely and design
products more evenly meeting the requirements of consumers. The billion plus population will
end up living in a pattern which will precisely fit in the big data analysis reports and corporate
projections. The change is for the market and driven by the market- or by someone who can
oversee the whole picture from a very larger prospective. Meanwhile let us indulge in some
more serious are creative activities- lynching someone who said to have cooked beef in his
home or ensuring all pregnant ladies remain virgin throughout 10 months of pregnancy for
example!!