Maneka pens gaushala manual
NEWDELHI: There’s cow protection and then there is cow protection, according to Union minister and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi.
Concerned over the poor upkeep of gaushalas (cow shelters) across India and the high mortality rate of the animals kept there, Gandhi has — in her individual capacity and not that of a minister — penned the country’s first-of-its-kind manual that lays down the standard operating proceduresfor running such shelters.
In the foreword to her gaushala manual, the cabinet minister for women and child development says: “A gaushala may have a mandir (temple) in it venerating the cow, but it rarely has a sick bay in which the animal is treated.” India had around 122 million cows according to the 19th Livestock Census conducted in 2014. It isn’t clear how many of them find their way to gaushalas which also house bulls, oxen, and buffaloes.
According to a 2014 reply in Parliament, there are about 3030 gaushalas in country, of which 1325 are run by various animal husbandry departments of the states. Grants made to gaushalas are covered under the grassland development category of the National Bovine Mission, a scheme predating the Modi government.
“Majority of the gaushalas in the country are poorly run where the old and abandoned animals are herded in one small enclosure. The mortality rate in gaushalas is 10% a month. The idea behind writing the manual is to make such shelters more sensitive to the need of the animals that are sought to be saved and also make them financially viable,” added Gandhi.
The cow is a holy animal for the Hindus and over the past three years, India has seen an increase in attacks by cow vigilantes. Their aim is to stop cow smugglers and those who illegally trade in beef, but the victims have sometimes been innocent cattle traders and those who skin the carcasses of dead animals.
With farmers finding it unviable to look after their non-productive and aged cows, many of these animals land up in gaushalas. Many of these, though, are in poor condition and, until now, there has been no effort to prescribe standards for them.