Government succeeded in providing shelter to 15177 destitute animals in state
The state government is taking various initiatives for the protection, rehabilitation and providing shelter to the cattle that were abandoned by their owners in various parts of state. Till now the government is succeeded in providing shelter to 15,177 destitute animals and livestock in state and the pastures of Himachal Pradesh has once again become lively which have also given a big boost to the State's agricultural economy.
The government has successfully constituted the 'Gau Seva Aayog' on February, 2019 to protect and rehabilitation of these animals, which was the main agenda of the present state government. To raise financial resources for the smooth functioning of Gau Seva Aayog the government had decided to levee Rs. one Gau Vansh cess on the sale of each liquor bottle since March 2018. The fund generated from the of liquor cess is being deposited in the account of Gau Seva Aayog and till now a sum of Rs. 7.95 crore has been received in this account, beside this the government has also decided to give 15 percent of fund collection of temple trusts and around Rs. 17 crore is likely to be pooled in ‘Gau Raksha Rashi’ every year. This amount will be utilized for protecting and rehabilitating 19,889 stray cattle in state. The government had also decided to set up a cabinet sub-committee in its first cabinet meeting to give suggestions for the protection and conservation of cows in the state. Apart from this the state government has also provided a grant of Rs. 15.03 crore to Gau Seva Aayog for year 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21.
As per the resources available the Gau Seva Aayog has prepared a policy guideline for gausadan owners, under which per-month a grant of Rs. 500 per gauvansh is being provided for the successful operation of new as well as old gausadan, gaushala and cow sanctuaries being run in the state. This grant is given as financial assistance only to those gausadan, gaushala and cow sanctuaries that have provided shelter to at least 30 cows. So far now the Aayog has distributed Rs. 1, 25, 65,500 (one crore twenty five lakh sixty five thousand and five hundred) to the gausadan operators. The Aayog has also started the process of completing the formalities for registering 111 gausadans out of 186 gausadan run by NGOs across the state
The State has also started the initiative to build cow sanctuaries and big shelters like other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Jharkhand. In Himachal Pradesh Gau Seva Aayog has released an amount of Rs. 17.09,04,370 (seventeen crore nine lakh four thousand three hundred and seventy) for the establishment and strengthening of new cow sanctuaries and gausadans in the last two years.
The Aayog is setting up cow sanctuaries / big gausadans throughout the state. As of now cow sanctuary has been established at Kotla Badhog in district Sirmaur with an expenditure of Rs. 1.67 crore (one crore sixty-six lakh) and it had been made functional for providing shelter to the destitute cows. Apart from this an amount of Rs. 2.03 crore (2 crore three lakhs) has been released for the construction of Thanakanla Khas cow sanctuary at district Una. Rs. 2.97 crore (two crore seven lakh) has been released for the construction of Handa Kudi Gau-Sanctuary at district Solan for which the work has already been started. In district Hamirpur Rs. 2.56 crores (two crore fifty lakh) have been released for the construction work of a big gausdan in Kheri and the construction work is likely to be completed soon. The construction work of a cow sanctuary in Manjir at district Chamba is started with an estimate cost of Rs. 1.66 crores (one crore sixty-six lakh).
For the establishment of sanctuary areas in Luthan, Kudan and Jaysinghpur and Jawali of District Kangra, an amount of Rs. 4.00 crore has been released in advance by the Gau Seva Aayog so that the work of the above four Gau aranya areas could be started soon. An amount of Rs. 77.90 lakh (seventy-seven lakh ninety thousand) has been released for the gaushala operated by the temple trust in Bai Attariyan of district Kangra.
The Aayog has also released Rs. 2.18 Crore (2 crore eighty lakh) for the construction and expansion of five new gausadans in district Solan, two in Una, one in Bilaspur, four in Mandi, one in Hamirpur, one in Shimla, one in Sirmaur and four in Kangra. The construction of which is likely to be completed soon. Apart from this after expansion and augmentation of 186 gausadans run by NGOs more destitute cows would be provided shelters in state.
The government has also opened two new veterinary hospitals and eight veterinary dispensaries have been upgraded to veterinary hospitals to cater to the health needs of these abandoned cattle. A veterinary hospital has been upgraded to sub-divisional veterinary and 27 Veterinary Officers have been recruited to run these hospitals.
Animal Husbandry Minister and the Chairman of Gau Seva Aayog Virender Kanwar said that the construction work of all under-construction cow-sanctuaries would be completed by February, 2021 and about 10 thousand more destitute cows would be provided shelter and the state would be made stray cattle free by January 2022.
These efforts of the state government would be a productive step in the promotion and conservation of abandoned cow in the state. It would also be beneficial in promoting zero budget farming in the state. Cow dung and urine have medicinal values and the products made from cow dung and urine will increase employment opportunities and boost the economy of state. Youth will also be linked with employment as well as entrepreneurship in every district of the state and the gaushalas would be source of raw material for these products which would be made available at the door steps of the farmers and entrepreneurs.