‘Govardhan Govansh Raksha Kendra’ scheme has no takers yet due to faulty mechanism.
Six months after sanctioning Rs 34 crore to set up cow shelters in every district, the state government has found that the funds are lying unused due to the scheme’s faulty mechanism. Also, the activists and experts have said that the scheme could lead to land-grabbing in the name of setting up cow shelters.
The state government sanctioned Rs 34 crore in the budget this year under the ‘Govardhan Govansh Raksha Kendra’ scheme. However, an official from the animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries department of the government said on condition of anonymity that the scheme has found no takers yet. “The idea was to give Rs 1 crore per district to set up the cow shelters. However, the volunteers are saying the funds are too little to run a cow shelter. The Rs 1 crore will be the construction cost, but the cattle would need food and water every day and medicines occasionally. We are mulling on a re-think about the scheme, as there are no takers for it,” the official said.
Social activist Bharat Patankar pointed out that the scheme will not have any takers as old cattle constitute a burden. “Even the farmers’ organisations related to the BJP have opposed the decision of banning slaughter. Without any benefit, no one will come forward. The scheme might become like government-aided hostels, where more students are shown than the actual number so as to receive more funds,” he said.
Agriculture expert and NCP MLA Shankaranna Dhondge shares Mr Patankar’s sentiments. “Cattle unfit for farming and which produce no milk have become a burden on the farmers. The government’s scheme to set up cow shelters would pave the way for corruption in the system, as there is no provision for monitoring how the funds would be spent. Also, gau rakshaks are already creating nuisance for innocent people. The cow shelter would give anti-social elements another tool to grab land and misuse government funds,” Mr Dhondge said.
Jayaji Survanshi, an activist from Aurangabad, said that the government-sponsored scheme for cow shelters is going to lead to corrupt practices. “There is a possibility that in the absence of any monitoring mechanism, any individual or institute may run a fraudulent shelter by showing cattle only on paper,” he said.
Another BJP leader, Pasha Patel, agreed that Rs 1 crore is not sufficient to take care of old cattle. “A cow shelter needs land, food, water and medicines. It takes around Rs 100 per animal per day for grass. But let us observe how the government implements the scheme,” he said.
Rajgopal Khandelwal runs a cow shelter in Amaravati district for the past 25 years as part of the Mahajan community’s efforts. He said that neither does the government encourage them to run the cow shelter nor has the new scheme reached them. “We have an average of 180-200 cattle. We need Rs 70,000 to Rs 1 lakh per month to run the shelter. It is only the (Mahajan) community that donates for the shelter; there is no other source of funds. There are three to four labourers taking care of the cattle. It is difficult to run the cow shelter without funds,” he said.
