Facing flak from the Opposition over the death of more than 20 cattle in a Government run cow shelter (gaushala) at Kurukshetra recently, the Manohar lal Khattar Government in Haryana has now ordered inspection of all cow shelters in the State.
The move comes after the BJP led State Government faced major embarrassment following the death of cattle at a Government-run cow shelter at Mathana village in Kurukshetra due to poor infrastructure and lack of fodder.
“We have ordered an inspection of all 437 cow shelters in the state after the incident at Kurukshetra’s Mathana village. A written communiqué in this regard has been sent to all Deputy Directors, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Department, deputed in various districts of the state,” said Bhani Ram Mangla, chairman of Haryana Gau Seva Ayog while talking to The Pioneer.
He said that a report has been sought from the officials concerned about the status of cow shelters.
Besides, we have asked all the members of Gau Seva Ayog to conduct inspection of cow shelters in their constituencies to ensure that such unfortunate incident does not occur again, he added.
Continuous rains had reportedly led to water-logging at Mathana village’s cow shelter turning it into death traps for more than 20 cattle who had died due to starvation after being stuck in the swampy land. Many other abandoned cattle at the shelter also fell sick and were, later shifted to nearby cow shelters.
The incident belied the Government’s exaggerated claims of ensuring cow protection in the State. On the other, the BJP-led Haryana Government also faced severe criticism from different quarters and was accused of indulging in “cow politics” for political gains.
On the incident, Mangla said that we had visited the cow shelter at Kurukshetra to take stock of the situation and had also asked officials concerned to shift the sick cows to another shelter.
Due to rains, problem of water-logging has been reported at cow shelters in other districts also. But, we have directed the officials concerned to carry out inspection of all cow shelters and submit a report regarding their current condition, he added.
Notably, the Haryana Government has announced to make the State stray cattle-free by August 15. Following its campaign to achieve the target, the cow shelters in the State have either filled to capacity or become overcrowded.
Raising the issue of death of cattle at Kurukshetra, leader of Opposition and INlD’s senior leader Abhay Chautala had recently shot off a letter to Chief Minister Manohar lal, criticising the latter for his Government’s failure to ensure cow protection.
Chautala, in his strongly-worded letter had stated, “The death of cows in Kurukshetra, is a matter of concern, shame and calls for penance. The cows reportedly died, because the gaushala housing them had become too slushy, due to incessant rain. It is a slur for Haryana, a State that prides in its Pashudhan.”
Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar had also criticised the State Government saying that the protection and welfare of cows is one of the declared goals of the BJP but it has failed to do.
There are more than three lakh cattle in around 437 gaushalas in the State, for which the Haryana Government had also released formulated standard operated procedures (SOPs) for respectable upkeep of cattle. These guidelines are, however, yet to be adopted by the cow shelters to ensure protection of cattle.
The Haryana Government had in 2015 imposed a complete ban on the sale of beef in any form in the state and had also made cow slaughter punishable by up to 10-year imprisonment following the passage of Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill 2015, for protection and upkeep of cows.