Himachal efforts to protect destitute cows

Shimla : New cow sanctuaries and big cow shelters will be established in Himachal Pradesh a spokesman of the state government said on Sunday.

Gau Seva Aayog has been set up
It has been observed that the cows that have stopped milking or bulls that have not been able to plow have been abandoned by people.

Apart from this, due to the use of modern instruments in agriculture, farmers are leaving the oxen. Keeping in view this problem, the ‘Gau Seva Aayog’ has been constituted by the State Government on March 1, 2019.

There are 10 government members, 10 non-government members and 10 special invitees in this Aayog. In order to raise financial resources for the Aayog, the government had decided that 15 percent of the income of temple trusts and one rupee Gauvansh cess on sale as per bottle of liquor will be taken, from which the amount of Rs. 7.95 crore has been collected in Aayogs account.

Sex-sorted Semen facility center to be set up in Lamlahari
The State Government is setting up a Sex-Sorted Semen Facility Center at a cost of Rs. 47.50 crore. For establishing this center, 90 percent grant will be given by the Central government and the state government will be providing the remaining 10 percent money.

In this center, such injections will be prepared for indigenous cow breeds that will produce only female calves. 740 kanals of land have been selected for the establishing Sex-Sorted Semen Facility Center in Lamlahdi of Kutlehar Assembly constituency. This will reduce the problem of destitute animals on the roads and it will also motivate farmers to adopt livestock activities.

Establishment of cow-sanctuaries and big cow shelters in the state
Cow-sanctuaries and big cow shelters have been established by the Aayog across the state.

The foundation stone of cow-sanctuary worth Rs. 1.52 crore have been laid at Kotla Badog in district Sirmaur and similarly the process of setting up ‘Gau Sadan’ is going on in other districts as well. A cow-sanctuary will be constructed at Thanakala Khas in District Una at the cost of Rs. 1.69 crore and Rs. 2.97 crore at Hada-Kudi in District Solan. In addition, an amount of Rs. 77.90 lakh has been released by the Aayog for the fencing of Gaushala operated by the temple trust in Bai Attariyan of district Kangra. With this, the capacity of ‘Gau Sadan’ will be increased to 1000 cows.

Land has been selected for the establishment of cow-sanctuaries at Barota Dabwal and Dhara-Tatoh in District Bilaspur. An amount of Rs. 21 lakh rupees has also been released for the construction of four new cow shelters in district Kangra, Mandi and Solan.

Rs 1.20 Crore released for construction and expansion of cow shelters

An amount of Rs 1.20 crore has been released by the Aayog for the construction of nine new cow shelters and for the expansion of old cow shelters to provide shelter to the destitute cows of local areas.

So far now, two new veterinary dispensaries have been started by the state government and eight veterinary dispensaries have been upgraded to the veterinary hospital, while one veterinary hospital has been upgraded to sub-divisional veterinary hospital. Apart from this, various schemes are being implemented by the state government with the aim of giving a big boost to animal husbandry and dairy activities. 

The ‘Pashu Aahar Yojana’ has been started for pregnant cow’s and buffalo’s the scheduled caste and general category BPL families. Under this scheme for the upliftment of families of these categories a provision of Rs. 4.60 crore has been made to provide animal feed at 50 percent subsidy during the last three months of pregnancy of their cows and buffalo.
20 percent additional subsidy will be provided for buying of indigenous cow.

The Government of India has started ‘Dairy Udyami Vikas Yojana’. Under this scheme the State Government is providing 10 percent additional subsidy on purchase of foreign breed cows and 20 percent subsidy on purchase of indigenous breed cows to the beneficiaries. Apart from this Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Gir and Tharparkar breed have also been included in the Animal Breeding Policy.

Under the National Gokul Mission, an amount of Rs. 195.00 lakhs has been received from the Central Government for the preparation of fetus of Sahiwal breed in the embryo transplant laboratory of Palampur.

For this eight Sahiwal cows or calves of high breed have also been purchased from Punjab and Haryana.

9119 animals have been provided shelter
Animal Husbandry Minister and Chairman of ‘Gau Seva Aayog’ Virendra Kanwar said that according to the cattle census of year 2012, 32107 destitute cows was on the roads and so far now 9119 animals have been provided shelter in cow houses.

He said that 146 cow shelters are being operated by NGOs in the state. Even at the Panchayati level, cow shelters, cow sheds, cattle ponds, etc. are being constructed for destitute cows. He urged the people not to abandon their cows and ensure registration of their animals under the Panchayati Raj Act 2006.