MP Govt Vows to Constitute Cow Welfare Ministry Before Assembly Election

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s love for bovines has reached a new level. The BJP-led government in the state will be constituting a full-fledged ‘Cow Welfare Ministry’, announced Chouhan on Sunday – two months before the assembly elections.

Speaking at an event, attended by Digambar Jain monk Vidhyasagarji Maharaj in Khajuraho, he said that the separate ministry for the cows will ensure that the cattle in the state are treated well, and it will also help create employment opportunities.

With this announcement, Madhya Pradesh has become the second state after Rajasthan which would have the separate Cow Welfare Ministry in the country.

“I have no reason to believe that the Cow Protection Board in the state should not be turned into a full-fledged ministry and new ministry can help serve cows in a much better way,” said Chouhan, while making the announcement.

Earlier, in a public rally, Madhya Pradesh Congress Chief Kamal Nath had announced that the party will set up Gaushala (cow sheds) in every panchayat of the state, if Congress is voted to power.

In his announcement, CM Chouhan claimed that he will form the ministry before election, which is due in November this year.

However, Madhya Pradesh Gau Samvardhan Board Chairman Swami Akhileshwaranand Giri said, “The possibility of opening a new ministry before election is bleak because the process of creating new ministry takes some time, and election commission can impose code of conduct any day.”

“The new ministry will start working with the formation of next government, which will start working likely from December or January 2019,” he added.  

Interestingly, 450 cows were reportedly kicked out from a cow shed in MP to conduct live video broadcasting of Prime Minister Modi's 'Swachhta hi Sewa’ campaign on Septembesr 15. As a result, eight cows had starved to death, according to reports.   

Inadequate funding for the “holy” animal’s upkeep

As per the Cow Protection Board data, MP has the highest cattle population (about 3.5 lakh) in the country. Of which, 1.53 lakh bovines are registered with the board, and are living in 1,296 government-registered cow sheds across the state.

Of 1,296 bovine sheds, 584 sheds are unregistered, while the rest 664 are registered with the government, and are receiving government aid every year. The government, however, is aiding only half of the sheds which are registered.

Moreover, the board offers Rs 4 per day for a cow for fodder and maintenance to the registered sheds, while the average expenses for a cow falls between Rs 70 and 80 a day. Except a few, most of the cow sheds aided by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government are in a pitiable condition.

Since the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led NDA government came to power, the cow sheds have reportedly received no financial aid from the central government. “The money which has been given by the BJP-ruled state government is like a drop in the ocean,” claimed an owner of a cow shelter home from Bhopal.

The BJP-led state government had formed the Cow Protection Board in 2013 to look after the cow sheds and bovines of state. The board started functioning fully only in 2016 when Giri took charge of the board as chairman. The State Gau Samvardhan Board (cow protection board) has been made a statuary body of the Madhya Pradesh Department of Animal Husbandry (MPAHD), especially formed to protect the cows and its dying breeds. But, the tragedy is that the board receives funds from the State Mandi Board instead of MPAHD, which amounts to between Rs 15 to 20 crores – 5 per cent share of the Mandi Board’s fund – every year.

After joining the board, Giri had conducted a survey of the cow sheds across the state, and had demanded Rs 96 crore for the maintenance of cow sheds and opening of new cow sheds to shelter the stray cows, which is a major issue in the state. However, the BJP government approved funding of only Rs 20 crore.

“The government approved funding of Rs 20 crore in 2016 and Rs 25 for 2017 and on, which is inadequate. After a lot of efforts, we are able to give Rs 4 per day to a cow in comparison to Rs 1.5 per day earlier,” said Giri.

The state government led by the BJP – a party that brags of its love and respect for the “holy” animal cow – had hiked bovine funds after a decade in its 15-year-long tenure.

Condition of cow sheds in Bhopal

There are 28 cow shelters, registered with the state government, in the state capital where more than 7,000 cows have been living. But, less than half of all the cows have been dying every year due to illness, lack of treatment, weakness and majorly due to eating polythene, according to Govind Vyas, vice-president of Bhopal Zila Gaupalan Samardhan Samiti, who also runs a cow shed in the outskirt of the state capital.

“We often demand sanctioning of the lands for the bovine shelters from the state as well as the central government. There is a need to review the outdated financial support parameters to bovines, so that we can protect and save them from dying, but our demands have been falling on deaf ears since a decade,” said Vyas.

He added, “It is a matter of concern that the pathetic condition of the sheds has worsened even when the country is ruled by the BJP who proclaim to be the protector of the cows.”

The owner of the city's biggest and state's third largest bovine shed with 2300 cows – Ashok Jain – said, “Every year, 700-800 cows die in my shelter due to illness, lack of treatment, sometimes owing to the lack of fodder. These cows are sent by the BMC, police or by individuals.”

Jain also runs an NGO called Jeevdaya Gaurakshan Evam Pariyawaran Samvardhan Board. “Those who have been running cow sheds must have other sources of income because the government used to pay Rs 1.5 per day for a cow; now, it has increased to Rs 4 per animal. However, each cow’s upkeep requires Rs 70 to 80 a day,” he said. Some of the cow sheds have been shut and some are on the verge of shutting down due to the continuous losses, he added.

The Bhopal Zila Gaupalan Samardhan Samiti has been demanding allotment of fresh lands for cow sheds, increased subsidy, fodder for the bovines, security arrangement for the sheds, and boundary for the dumping yards so that the cows don't eat polythene.

Giri added, “We have been demanding an increase in the budget for bovines for years, but nothing has changed. In the recent meeting with the CM, we have demanded at least Rs 20 for a bovine per day.”