Madhya Pradesh’s ‘Cow Cabinet’ to hold first meeting on Sunday

Earlier in August, BJP-led state government faced flak for reducing the budget of cow protection by 90% from Rs 132 crore in last financial year to Rs 11 crore.

The Madhya Pradesh government will hold the first meeting of its ‘Gau (cow) Cabinet’ on Sunday (November 22) in Agar Malwa. The meeting will begin at 12 noon.

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.(ANI)

The state government has chosen to hold the first meeting of the special body on Sunday, which marks Gopashtami, because according to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, it is the day for the celebration and worship of cows.

In his tweet, Chouhan further said that the ‘cow cabinet’ will include departments of animal husbandry, forest panchayat, rural development, home and farmer welfare.

The cabinet will be headed by the chief minister himself, while home minister Narottam Mishra, forest minister Vijay Shah, agriculture minister Kamal Patel, rural development minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia, and animal husbandry minister Prem Singh Patel will be a part of it, as per General Administration Department’s order.

“There are three elements to fulfillment in our lives - Ganga, Gita and Gaumata. BJP has always been the protector of Indian culture and traditions and following this path we have decided to establish a cow cabinet,” Mishra said.

According to an officer of the animal husbandry department, the state government will construct 4,000 cow shelters in one year and the target is to have at least one cow shelter in a village panchayat.

According to an officer, a meeting of ‘Gau Cabinet’ will be held once every two months.

Earlier in August, BJP-led state government faced flak for reducing the budget of cow protection by 90% from Rs 132 crore in last financial year to Rs 11 crore. Later, the state government had released some funds to feed the cows. As of now, MP has 1,300 cow shelters and per cow expenditure was less than Rs 1.6 per day.