Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday said brutal crimes against women were taking place because “Indians lack values”. To inculcate values, he advised people to start rearing cows.

“Cow is our mother. Service to cow is service to mankind, which in turn helps build morals,” he said at a function organised to lay the foundation of the country’s first cow sanctuary at Salaria village in Shajapur district in northwest Madhya Pradesh.

Bhagwat said people in general were not behaving in the manner they should do with their parents. “This also has to do with lack of values.”

Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that till date only wildlife sanctuaries were being made. “We decided to make a cow sanctuary because cow is the base of our culture.”

The sanctuary — Kamdhenu Go-Abhyaran — will be spread over 472.63 and can house 5,000 cows in the first phase. The capacity will be increased by 1,000 every year.

The second phase will focus on manufacture of organic fertilisers, improvements in the breed of cattle and preparation of medicines from cow urine. The third phase would involve the conservation of 34 breeds of cows found in India.

Training would be offered in animal husbandry, preparing medicines from cow urine and developing grazing land.