Cow deaths in Hingonia Goshala in Rajasthan which is considered one of the biggest in the state has not only hit the headlines but has also made it difficult for the BJP Government in the state. Facing aggravation over death of cows at a state-run cow shelter due to alleged negligence, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje directed the team Rajasthan to swing into action with Minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat and inspect the Hingonia Cow centre.
Municipal Corporation presented a report on the current conditions of the Hingonia Goshala in Jaipur to the minister for Urban Development and Housing, to which he said that he will apprise the Chief Minister of the situation.
He then directed the officials and concerned people at the Hingonia Cow Rehabilitation Centre to remove the mud from there and take timely actions to provide better living conditions to cows in the centre.
Following the death of hundreds of cows in the past few weeks, the Rajasthan CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) issued a statement which read that most of the cows that had died in the past couple of days were already sick, unwell and was suffering malnutrition. The Hingonia Goshala is a government-run cowshed in Jaipur which is one among the largest in the state. The statement further said that the cows were recently brought at the cowshed and no negligence has been done. At the Hingonia Goshala unowned, old, hurt, unclaimed, handicapped and cows who have met accidents in the state are brought for their treatment. The government said that the cows that are brought to the centre from the city and neighbouring areas are already so weak and sick that few die before they are treated, few die during the time of treatment and few after that. The cows are majorly dying after swallowing polythene and other un-digestible material.
Kunji Lal Meena, secretary for the Animal Husbandry and Gaupalan department, said, “There are over 8,000 cows at the Hingonia Goshala which are taken care of by a team of 14 veterinarians, 24 livestock assistants, and about 200 other staff. There was no lapse in the upkeep of the cowshed and the ones which died were already old and suffering from poor health.”
The CMO also emphasized that it is continuously doing every possible thing to improve the conditions of the cows that are sheltered in the Hingonia Goshala. The statement further said, “The state government has taken many crucial steps like Rs 10.78 crore being spent in financial year 2015-16, compared to Rs 3.59 crore in 2011-12. Additionally, for construction of sheds and other infrastructure, Rs 7.59 crore was spent in 2014-15 and Rs 2.16 crore in 2015-15 at the cowshed.”
Following death of hundreds of cows at government-run Hingonia Goshala Aam Admi Party on Thursday has asked the Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to resign from her post. The party claimed that Vasundhara Raje knew that Rajasthan is a poor state and yet she didn’t move ahead towards improving the situations. AAP leader Ashutosh said that the High Court was told by government officials that “the chief minister has been informed about the poor situation in the goshala on February 29. After which the high court issued detailed guidelines to improve the situation at the goshala, but despite all, hundreds of cows have died due to poor arrangements,” he said.
Ashutosh, following his visit to the goshala with other party leaders, demanded the resignation of Raje. “BJP does dirty politics in the name of cows and it is very disappointing that several hundred cows have died in a BJP-ruled state and what is more disappointing is that chief minister has no time to visit the goshala,” he told reporters in Jaipur.
Meanwhile, PCC president Sachin Pilot said the government should hand over the goshala to private and experienced entities to save the cows from dying. “The animal husbandry minister has expressed the government’s inability to run the guashala therefore the government should rope in private organisations who serve cows in order to save lives of cows,” he said.
Later, ACB’s additional SP Bajrang Singh Shekhawat led team of around 50 personals arrived at the Hingonia goshala which has become a major source of embarrassment for the state government and Jaipur Municipal Corporation.”Our team had come to prepare a report on the conditions of the shelter on the directions of the High Court. But when we came here we found that in one ward over 1,000 starving cows were stranded in a pool of mud. We cleared the ward with the help of local guards and fed these cows.”
Everybody kept criticizing the BJP government in the state for negligence but never tried to On the other hand; Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje herself examined the reports on the current conditions of the Hingonia Goshala and expressed grave anger. She further directed the Jaipur Muncipal Corportation to suspend Deputy Commissioner and Cowshed in-charge for being guilty and showing carelessness towards the maintenance and care of the cows in the cowshed.
The government on the other hand is trying to make sure that suitable arrangements are in place by making all possible efforts. A special team of experts has been appointed in order to look into the matter. Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Smt. Vasundhara Raje said, “Negligence in the maintenance of cow sheds and care of cows at rehabilitation centres shall not be tolerated at any case.”
गायों की रख-रखाव एवं देखभाल में किसी भी स्तर पर कोताही बर्दाश्त नहीं की जायेगी।
— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) August 6, 2016
Secretary of animal husbandry department Kunji Lal Meena had earlier said, “The government is making all efforts to make sure that proper arrangements are in place in the centre where some animals have died in the past few days. These cows were already sick.” Meena informed, “In the last few days a special campaign was commenced to confine stray animals, consequently, the inflow of animals to the centre has accordingly increased. 1,228 bovine animals were captured from July 15 to July 31 and most of them were suffering from malnutrition and were sick.”
Also, Shailesh Sharma, Director of Gaupalan Department has said, “No symptoms of communicable or seasonal diseases were found in the cows. The cows in serious condition would be shifted to the Radhakrishna Goshala in Sawai Madhopur for treatment.”
State government has said that Hingonia Goshala is one of the major key initiatives that CM Raje led Rajasthan Government has taken for the welfare and maintenance of the cows in Rajasthan. Rajasthan Government is the first state in the country to establish a separate ministry for cow conservation and protection. Along with this, the Raje Government has taken following initiatives for cow welfare and conservation:
- Establishment of “Gopalan Department” on 13thMarch, 2014.
- An amount of Rs. 867 lacs sanctioned for construction of new building of Gopalan Directorate. Land leveling started in March, 2016.
- Mass campaign for bull registration and castration of stray / nondescript males in goshalas (8196 nondescript males castrated and 343 breed-able bulls registered till 29.2.2016).
- Grant of Rs. 200 lacs provided to 51 Goshalas for maintenance and upkeep of 5125 cows saved from slaughter in 2015–16.
- 2000 Integrated Livestock Development Centres are being established through J.K.Trust.
- Creation of a permanent resource (Fund) for cow conservation activities by way of 10% surcharge on stamp duty from 2016-17.
- Relief grant of Rs. 219.00 crore distributed for Goshalas and cattle camps in 29 famine affected districts in 2015-16.
- Registration of 269 new Goshalas under Rajasthan Goshala Act, 1960 in last 2 years.
- Indigenous Breed improvement Programme for Tharparkar, rathi and Sahiwal breed of Cows of Rajasthan in Jodhpur, Bikaner and Hanumangarh districts respectively under NDP-I.
The Rajasthan Government has taken the matter very seriously with the Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje herself at the helm of affairs.
