No proposal received to declare cow as national animal: govt

New Delhi: The government has received no proposal to declare the cow as national animal, the Lok Sabha was informed today. "No such proposal or demand has been received in the Ministry of Home Affairs," Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply. He was replying to a question on whether the government has received any proposal or there has been a demand in various parts of the country to declare the cow as national animal. However, Rijiju said, under the distribution of legislative powers between the Union of India and States under Article 246(3) of the Constitution, the preservation of cattle is a matter on which the legislature of the state has exclusive powers to legislate.