Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur rolls out project to set up a cow sanctuary

The concept of cow sanctuaries is different from that of gaushalas and gausadans where the animals are kept indoors. Here the animals will be free to roam in the fenced area.

3 min readShimlaJul 11, 2018 09:24 AM IST First published on: Jul 11, 2018 at 02:30 AM IST

Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur rolls out project to set up a cow sanctuary

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur lays the foundation stone for the cow sanctuary near Rajgarh in the presence of Speaker Rajeev Bindal and Animal Husbandry Minister Virender Kanwaron Tuesday. (Express Photo)

First it was one rupee cow cess on each bottle of liquor sold in the state and then a legislative route to make it mandatory on the temple trusts to shell out 15 per cent of annual earning for gausadans/gaushalas. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur rolled out an ambitious Rs 1.55 cr project to set up the state’s first cow sanctuary at Kotla-Barog, near Rajgarh in Sirmaur district.

Spread over an area of 107 bighas — a land suitable to provide natural living environment and grazing facility to 500 animals, mostly stray cows — the sanctuary will be developed and fenced to turn into a protected area. Till now, the land was with the animal husbandry department and was used for grazing by the local communities.

“If the experiment goes well, we will replicate the project in every district. Land has already been identified by the Deputy Commissioners to set up cow sanctuaries and even gausadans. The whole idea is to solve the problem of stray cattle and protect gau vansh by involving temple trusts, NGOs, panchayats and charitable organisations” the CM said. The concept of cow sanctuaries is much different than gaushalas and gausadans where the animals are kept indoor and fed in-house. Here the animals will be free to roam in the area fenced for keeping fixed number of cows.

“Since the land chosen has been a grassland and has sufficient natural fodder, there will not be compulsive stall feeding of the cows. Yet, we will built proper sheds and post caretakers, beside providing facilities like drinking water, veterinary services and develop some areas for growing fodder,” said a senior official of the animal husbandry department.

Initially, a local temple trust, Bala Sundri Mata Temple Trust, will be roped in for collaboration to spend 15 per cent of the funding (as per amendments done in the HP Religious Endowments and Temple Trust Act). But thereafter, the trust is expected to find some NGO or charitable trust to run the affairs of the cow sanctuary. After return of the BJP government, Chief Minister had set up a Cabinet sub-committee to propose measures for promotion of gau vansh and also constitute Gau Sewa Aayog in the state for protection and enrichment of the cow.

In the budget, Chief Minister, who is also finance minister, had announced a cow cess of Rs one on each bottle of liquor sold in the state to raise funds to the tune of Rs 8 crore every year for Gau Sadans and cow sanctuaries.

The government also has a plan to introduce free animal ambulance service for providing veterinary care at doorstep. Officials in the animal husbandry department said Madhya Pradesh is the only state which till now had introduced the concept of cow sanctuaries. Deputy Commissioner Kullu Yunus is also trying to develop his own model of gausadans, where stray animals are brought from the districts and kept in special shelter home.

# Jai Ram Thakur