Urban local bodies in Punjab spent ₹85.92-cr on stray cattle management: Minister

Local government minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar said on Wednesday that urban local bodies (ULBs) provided financial assistance of ₹85.92 crore for taking care of stray cattle.

Local government minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar said on Wednesday that urban local bodies (ULBs) provided financial assistance of ₹85.92 crore for taking care of stray cattle.

Rural development and panchayati raj department constructed 77 cattle sheds in 20 government cattle ponds in the state, which have around 10,024 stray cattle, the minister said. (HT File Photo)

The minister gave this information in the state assembly while replying to the call attention notice brought by MLAs Daljit Singh Grewal and Gurpreet Singh Banawali. Nijjar said there are 1.70 lakh stray cattle in about 417 private registered gaushalas in the state.

Apart from this, rural development and panchayati raj department constructed 77 cattle sheds in 20 government cattle ponds in the state, which have around 10,024 stray cattle. Another 3,385 stray cattle are kept in 10 gaushalas being run by ULBs at their level. He said that around 185 government/private gaushalas are being given financial assistance of ₹10 to ₹30 per cattle per day or monthly basis as per financial status and available cow cess funds by the urban local bodies. He further said that ₹183.44 crore collected as cow cess is with the urban local bodies.