Banaskantha: Alpesh Thakor joins protest by gaushalas

He later gave a 24-hour deadline to Deesa administration to resolve the pending issues else face a dharna at the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) office on Monday. “If solution is not reached till Monday, the Congress and OBC Ekta Manch will join the protests and hold a dharma outside the SDM office in Deesa,” added Thakor.

The protests by gaushala and panjrapole managements, who have sought more financial help from the government over increasing costs in running cow shelters, intensified after Banaskantha district administration’s May 5 order imposing ban on cattles on the streets. The notification, valid from May 5 till May 10, was said to be issued as a precautionary measure after gaushala and panjrapole trustees warned the administration that they would take the cattle out on roads in protest.

“The major issue is of fodder. With number of donors declining and no financial assistance from the government, we are finding it difficult to feed our cattle. We cannot see them dying in our sheds, so we had requested to take them out on roads. With the advent of monsoon, around June 15, the problem will be addressed. But till then, it is very tough for us to survive and feed our cattle,” Jayantilal Doshi, managing trustee of Federation of Banaskantha Gaushala and Panjrapole, said.

The issue has been simmering since March when the federation had submitted a representation of their demands to the District Collector. As per the federation, Deesa alone has a total five cattle centres, including three gaushalas and two panjrapoles. There are around 60,000 cattles in the district’s 97 gaushalas and 15 panjrapoles.

Meanwhile, police guarded gaushalas and panjrapoles. “Taking into account the May 5 notification, police have been deployed outside cattlesheds just to ensure that there is not violation of the law… cattle on roads in a large number can create a lot of chaos, traffic problems, accidents. So taking all these issues into account, the notification was issued,” Banaskantha District Collector Sandip J Sagale said.