Cow devotees and saints on Tuesday took out a rally in Jaipur demanding opening of Nandi (bull and male calf) shelters, release of grant to cow shelters and ban on cow slaughter in the entire country.
Shri Rajasthan Gau Sewa Samiti president Mahant Dinesh Giri also submitted a memorandum to the state government in this regard. “The BJP government in its election manifesto had promised to give grant for nine months in a year (for cow shelters), but in last four years the grant has been given only for six months,” Giri said, adding that the government also put riders, because of which a majority of shelters did not receive any grant.
Giri said across the state poor and small farmers abandon bovines, which eat garbage and plastic and die. The abandoned bovines also damage crops and cause road accidents. “The institutions working for cows and social organisations have submitted memorandums many times, but till date no arrangement has been made by the government. The issue of Nandi shelters has grown out of proportion; the government should set up Nandi shelters and issue financial sanctions,” he said.
He said allocating ₹50 lakh to set up Nandi shelters in each district will not be enough and the government should ensure a permanent solution. “If our demands are not met in 15 days as assured by the minister today (Tuesday) then we will hand over all cow shelters to government and start an agitation,” he warned.
{{/usCountry}}He said allocating ₹50 lakh to set up Nandi shelters in each district will not be enough and the government should ensure a permanent solution. “If our demands are not met in 15 days as assured by the minister today (Tuesday) then we will hand over all cow shelters to government and start an agitation,” he warned.
{{/usCountry}}He said the government should issue administrative and financial sanctions to set up cow and Nandi shelters at pasture land of every gram panchayat. “The shelters are not receiving grants under drought relief — at present, 13 districts are declared drought hit. The representatives have met state and union ministers and were assured, but orders have not been issued to release grants, due to which there is huge resentment among cow devotees, saints and institutes running shelters,” he added.
“The central government established a separate animal welfare board, which is running many schemes. The cow shelters were receiving grants, but the grants were stopped since formation of this government,” Giri said.
In the memorandum, the samiti states that cow slaughter has not been banned in the country till date. “We urge the Prime Minister to immediately ban cow slaughter,” Giri said.