South Asia Events, News and Resources

Bengaluru: The assembly Thursday passed a bill aimed at providing welfare measures for migratory shepherds and safeguarding them from atrocities, fulfilling a promise made by chief minister Siddaramaiah, who hails from the community, in the 2024-25 state budget.

The legislation carries strict penal provisions. Denying shepherds access to public or govt land (excluding reserve forests) without lawful grounds will invite a one-year jail term and Rs 1 lakh fine, while preventing access to public resorts carries a two-year jail term with the same fine. Verbal abuse or intentional insults can attract six months to five years in prison and a Rs 1 lakh fine. Public servants who neglect duties and cause financial loss to shepherds will be punished under civil service rules.

Over a hundred shepherds had staged a protest at Freedom Park Tuesday, pressing the govt to introduce a long-pending law aimed at safeguarding their rights and welfare. The community says it continues to suffer harassment, assaults and atrocities at the hands of forest officials and other authorities especially in remote forest and hilly regions.

Thursday's legislation seeks to protect shepherds, a community of 50–60 lakh in Karnataka, from daily challenges including violence, theft, and sexual assault. Members across party lines noted that the issue goes beyond politics and centres on providing dignity and security to one of the state's largest pastoral groups.

Animal husbandry minister K Venkatesh, who tabled The Karnataka Traditional Migratory Shepherds (Welfare Measures and Protection Against Atrocities) Bill, 2025, said: "The community even suffers from thieves who target their sheep. There are instances where they have been beaten up for entering grassland to graze sheep. Apart from protecting them from such attacks, the bill also ensures welfare schemes for them."

He said about 1,500 shepherds have been identified and 5,000 registered so far. "More enrolments are expected as the proposed legislation provides a proper mechanism for formal registration," he said. The bill provides for the creation of a Traditional Migratory Shepherds Welfare Fund and Board, on the lines of the Construction Workers Welfare Board. A fee from purchasers of sheep and goats in authorised markets will be pooled into the fund, managed by a govt-nominated board chairman. Welfare measures include affordable housing, land grants, health insurance, scholarships, food security, livestock vaccination, treatment and animal insurance. 

The House also passed The Basavana Bagewadi Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2025, enabling the appointment of legislative council members to the authority, and The Karnataka Appointment of Recovery Commissioner for Seizure and Attachment of Property of Illegal Mining and Proceeds of Crime Bill, 2025, which empowers the govt to recover money from illegal mining operations by attaching assets.

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