Handing over village pastures to cow panel may spark row

Representatives of the Haryana Gau Seva Aayog, which is facing problem in feeding thousands of stray cattle kept at 437 gaushalas in the state, have been urging the government to hand over the common grazing land (gau charand) in villages to the panel to set up more gaushalas and to produce cattle fodder.

However, any such move by the government in this direction may spark a controversy as village panchayats are likely to oppose it.

Sources in the Haryana revenue department said that in most of the villages this land is the only source of income of panchayats and if the government will give this land for gaushalas, this will affect the development of villages.

“According to the law, the panchayat is the actual owner of the village common land and the government cannot hand it over to anybody without the consent of the panchayat,” said a senior official of the Haryana revenue department, on the condition of anonymity.

“Also, the common land is a major source of income for panchayats. In many villages, this land was even used for residential plots for the BPL families. But the village panchayats may object if the government will force them to hand over this land to the cow panel,” he added.

When contacted, representatives of village panchayats said they give this land to farmers on lease every year and a panchayat earns Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 from every acre, which is used for developmental works.

“Why will we give our land for gaushalas as we depend on this land for developmental works and we cannot look towards the government for everything,” said a village sarpanch of Yamunanagar district. “In the past two years, we did not get any financial aid from the government. We largely depend on the 23 acres of this common land, which earns around Rs 7 lakh for panchayat every year,” he added.

On the other hand, members of the Haryana Gau Seva Aayog are pressuring the government to hand over common land in villages to the Aayog for setting up more gaushalas, saying the ruling BJP had made this promise in its election manifesto. “We are facing a crisis due to paucity of land and the government must take steps to vacate this land for gaushalas,” said Om Singh Chauhan, member of the Aayog. “Though such land exists in almost every village, this is being used for other purposes. As it is a good source of income for panchayats,” he added.

HARYANA GAU SEVA AAYOG MEMBERS ARE PRESSURING GOVT TO HAND OVER COMMON LAND IN VILLAGES TO IT FOR SETTING UP MORE GAUSHALAS