Chandigarh, Mar 16 (PTI) Two Bills related to the sale and transportation of animals in urban areas were referred to a select committee of the Haryana Assembly on Wednesday after the Opposition objected to some of their provisions.

The Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 provided for a jail term up to six months for those who keep horses, cattle or other quadruped animals or birds for transportation, sale or hire or for sale or produce in urban areas without a licence.

Also Read | Puri: Jagannath Temple Servitor Shot Dead by Miscreants Near Barabati Area.

Opposition Congress members raised objections soon after Urban Local Bodies Minister Kamal Gupta tabled the Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill.

Later, the government decided to send both Bills to a select committee of the Assembly.

Also Read | Maharashtra Shocker: 42-Year-Old Man Kills Friend in Drunken Altercation in Nagpur; Arrested.

Raising his objection, Varun Chaudhary said, "The provisions of the Bills will affect the poor man as cattle have also been included in the provisions. On one hand, we call cow 'gau mata', on the other, a provision of six-month jail is being proposed for keeping it at home."

Congress legislator Aftab Ahmed demanded that the Bill should be referred to a Assembly panel, saying some of its provisions have "long-term repercussions".

He reasoned that many villages are also part of the civic bodies.

"These areas are not as developed where the cattle should not be kept," he said.

Congress MLA B B Batra demanded the Bills be deferred while Jagbir Malik said the provision of having a licence issued by civic bodies will promote inspector raj and the poor will have to bear the brunt for keeping the cattle at home.

While the government tried to reason that the Bills aimed at creating uniformity in the trade licence fee and making it uniform throughout all the civic bodies in the state, the Opposition stuck to its demand.

The select committee will have members from the opposition and the ruling BJP-JJP alliance.

The Haryana Fire and Emergency Services Bill, 2022, was also deferred on minister Kamal Gupta's request as he said he wanted to bring some amendments to it.

The Assembly on Wednesday passed the Sports University of Haryana Bill, which seeks to establish a sports university to promote sports education.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)