Nine months on, Gau Seva Ayog fails to provide I-cards

Almost nine months after its announcement, the Haryana Gau Sewa Ayog has failed to provide identity cards to ‘gau rakshaks’ in the state.

The idea was to keep an eye over the working of cow vigilante groups in the state.

The panel had announced to provide identity cards to ‘gau rakshaks’ following police verification after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August last year had questioned the working of cow protection groups, saying many people working as ‘gau rakshaks’ are fake.

Haryana Gau Sewa Ayog chairman Bhani Ram Mangla had decided to provide identity cards to genuine ‘gau rakshaks’ to prevent violence against cow smugglers in the name of cow protection.

However, the process of police verification of ‘gau rakshaks’, which was mandatory for issuance of identity cards, could not be started yet.

STOPPING COW SMUGGLING IN MEWAT’S NUH REMAINS CHALLENGE FOR STATE GOVT PANEL

Sources said the state police had demanded Rs 500 for verification of each volunteer from Haryana Gau Sewa Ayog, stating that the process was timeconsuming.

“It is true that we could not issue the identity cards yet as the matter of police verification of gau rakshaks is still pending with the police, which had demanded Rs 500 per head for verification,” Mangla told Hindustan Times.

“I took up the matter with the top officers of the police and they have given assurance to conduct the verification free of cost. The process of police verification of about 200 applicants will start soon,” he added. Asked whether there is a need of cow protection groups in the state, he said, “Though the state government had already formed a separate task force to monitor the smuggling of cows, if somebody wants to provide his services voluntarily we cannot discourage them. Also, we require their services to send stray cows to the gaushalas.”

However, people working with cow protection groups said the smuggling of cows had reduced by more than 90% in Haryana after the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh banned illegal slaughter houses. THE CHALLENGE IN MEWAT However, Mangla admitted that curbing smuggling of cows in Nuh of Mewat district of Haryana still remained a challenge for them.

“The problem of cow smuggling in Nuh is quite a challenge and we need more police force for the purpose,” Mangla said. “Cow smugglers bring stray cows from other districts and the incidents of killing of cows are still being reported in Nuh. But we are working on the issue,” he added.