To get rid of the menace of stray cattle in the state, Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said efforts are on to make Himachal Pradesh stray cattle-free within one and a half year.
Launching ‘Assistance to Gausadan/Gaushala/Cow Sanctuary Scheme’ and National Artificial Insemination Programme Phase-II of Animal Husbandry department here, Thakur said under the Scheme, Rs 500 per cow per month would be provided to all Gausadans/Gaushalas/ cow sanctuaries having 30 or more cattle as maintenance allowance after complete tagging under Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH) and National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) as per the Government of India guidelines. He said that these benefits would be extended to cow sanctuaries/Gaushalas established by the government, registered Gausadans and Gaushalas being run by Panchayats, Mahila Mandals, Local Bodies and NGOs etc.
Thakur said the state government has decided to ensure that no one would be allowed to abandon their cattle.
He said in the very first cabinet meeting it was decided to make provision for providing shelter to stray cattle and levying one rupees cess per bottle of liquor for construction and maintenance of cow sadans, he added.
He said the government has now decided to levy cess of Rs 1.50 per cattle of liquor to generate the income and also to develop cow sanctuaries in the State, adding that the government was committed to ensure that not even a single cattle was found on the roads for which the collective efforts were required.
Thakur said under the National Artificial Insemination Programme Phase-II, facility of artificial insemination would be provided to improve the breed of cattle thereby helping the farmers to supplement their income. He said that this would benefit over eight lakh farmers of the State.
Thakur also interacted with the farmers and members of the Managing Committee of Gausadans and Gaushalas.
Agriculture, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Animal Husbandry Minister Virender Kanwar said that it was for the first time the Chief Minister has interacted with cattle rearers of the state. The efforts would be made to bring all the abandoned cattle into Gau Sadans and cow sanctuaries for which active cooperation of every section of the society was required. He said that efforts would also be made for capacity enhancement of the cow sanctuaries in the State.
The minister said seven cow sanctuaries were coming up in seven districts of the State which would be made functional at the earliest. He said that the Agriculture department would purchase cow dung from the cow sanctuaries and would be sold to farmers as vermi-compost. The efforts would also be made to plant fodder trees in cow sanctuary areas so that cows could get green fodder. He said that the state government would ensure free vaccination of cattle twice in a year.