Jubilant over lift of ban, rural sports organisers prepare for bullock cart races

Animal sports lovers in the region are jubilant after the state government’s approval to the Punjab Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (Punjab Amendment) Act and the Punjab Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Conduct of Bullock Cart Race) Rules, 2025.

Organisers are paying gratitude to Amargarh legislator Jaswant Singh Gajjan Majra for his persistent efforts to get the ban on these sports lifted in the state and have started planning races.

Although, small organisers conducted bullock cart and dog races occasionally without being noticed, the administration had not allowed these events at more popular arenas, including the Kila Raipur Stadium, where bullocks had performed for the first time in 1933. The demand to take constitutional steps for the restoration of the event on a pattern similar to the Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu had arisen shortly after the Aam Aadmi Party came to power. The step was expected to rejuvenate rural sports, besides cheering those associated with bullock rearing and handling. Gajjan Majra said, “As a member of an agricultural family, I am conscious about the consequences of cruelty against animals as we treat our cattle as our sons.” Enthusiasts had seen a ray of hope in the restoration of bullock cart races in rural sports, after the Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development, Gurmit Singh Khudian, had assured Gajjan Majra during an Assembly session that the sports would be legalised in the state soon.

The acceptance of this demand will lead to employment among cattle traders, jockeys, breeders and will also be a partial solution of accidents caused by stray bullocks on roads.

Rearing of bullocks had remained a passion among farmers and other animal sports lovers till over a decade ago, when bullock cart races were banned in compliance of the Supreme Court’s orders in 2014.

Senior functionaries of the Congress party had also promised to get an ordinance passed for allowing the races during the term of Captain Amarinder Singh.

Activists of Bullock Cart Runners Committee had been taking organised measures to get the event restored but their efforts did not yield results. Hundreds of families engaged in rearing, selling and handling bullocks were affected due to the withdrawal of the event from the rural sports arena.

Ludhiana