Camel Protection and Development Policy

March 8, 2022

The state government of Rajasthan in its budget 2022-23 has announced a Camel Protection and Development Policy.

Overview:

According to the state government figures, in Rajasthan there are less than two lakh camels left. Since 2012, the number of camels has reduced by 1.5 lakh in India. Around 2.5 lakh camels were left when in 2019 it was last counted.
The state animal of Rajasthan is the Camel and their number is decreasing continuously. In 2014, the government of Rajasthan had declared the camel as the state animal.
Nearly 85 per cent of India’s camels are found in Rajasthan which is followed by Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
According to the 2019 animal census, the number of camels in Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, and Nagaland dropped to zero, although these states had 45, 03, 07, and 92 camels, respectively, in 2012.

Why was this policy announced by the Rajasthan government?

As the camel population is continuously declining, the government of Rajasthan has announced this policy. For this policy, a budget of Rs 10 crore has also been proposed. The amount will be used for protecting, rearing and developing the animals.

Why did Camel rearing in the state decline?

Following the declaration of Camels as the state animal of Rajasthan in 2014, the government came out with the Rajasthan Camel (Prohibition of Slaughter and Prohibition of Temporary Migration or Export Regulations) Act in 2015 to prohibit its temporary migration out of Rajasthan and stop its slaughter. Due to this law camel rearing in the state was reduced, thus, there was a decline in their population.

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