After failing to achieve its ambitious target to make Haryana stray cattle-free last year, the Manohar lal Khattar Government has now launched ‘Haryana Besahara Gauvansh Mukt Yojana’ to accomplish the same target by the end of this month.
Known for its love for the cow, the Haryana Government had last year failed thrice to make the state stray cattle free. The government had failed to meet its three targets i.e. August 15, September 30 and then October 31 last year, to rehabilitate the abandoned cattle and put an end to the stray cattle menace in Haryana.
Following this, the Chief Minister Manohar lal had in November last year also written to his counterparts in the neighboring states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh urging them to launch stray cattle-free programme in their respective states so that unwanted migration of such cattle could be prevented in Haryana.
“large number of stray cattle enters in Haryana, which shares a large part of its boundary with these states, from other side of border and this had adversely affected the stray cattle-free programme of the state,” Manohar lal had stated in a demi-official letter written to the Chief Ministers.
The State Government had last year declared three districts namely Nuh, Yamunanagar and Fatehabad as stray cattle-free and also, decided to get third party survey conducted in these districts.
To achieve the target, the government had also decided to impose a fine of Rs 5100 on those who carelessly leave their cows and buffaloes to graze on the streets.
“We have launched ‘Haryana Besahara Gauvansh Mukt Yojana’ to make the state stray-cattle free by the end of July. A meeting in this regard was held here and district level committees have been constituted to achieve the desired target,” said Bhani Ram Mangla, chairman of Haryana Gau Seva Aayog while talking to The Pioneer.
“Additional Deputy Commissioners would be the chairperson of district level committees while members would include DSPs, District Development and Panchayat Officers, representatives from Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department and zila parishads among others. The committee will carry out regular drives to ensure rehabilitation of stray cattle and send the bovine species to gaushalas in Haryana,” he said.
Bhani Ram Mangla also said that budget will be allocated to the gaushalas (cow shelters) for taking care of bovine species
At present, the gaushalas in the State are facing shortage of funds. Also, many gaushalas in the state have either filled to capacity or become overcrowded following the beginning of State Government’s campaign to make Haryana, stray-cattle free last year.
On incidents of animal neglect at cow shelters in the state due to shortage of funds, Bhani Ram Mangla claimed that there is no shortage of funds and it will be allocated to gaushalas accordingly. The district level committees constituted will also review the functioning of gaushalas and ensure their proper functioning, he added.
Earlier this year, several cows had died due to starvation, non-availability of water and lack of care at a nandishala in Jind. last year also, the BJP Government had 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.
There are more than three lakh cattle in around 430 gaushalas in the state.
Notably, Haryana was among the first states in the country to enact the Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act in 2015, imposing a strict ban on cow slaughter apart from curtailing smuggling of cows outside the state. It provides for a rigorous imprisonment ranging from three years to ten years for cow slaughter and provides for a fine from Rs 30,000 to Rs one lakh.