BOVINE DEVOTION
It’s raining funds for cow shelters in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has usurped the pet project of BJP governments, and is now spending Rs 800 crore in aid annually for gaushalas (cow shelters). From January on, he has liberalised the aid criteria further. The cow shelter network is expanding each year—the number of registered shelters last fiscal was 2,990 (of which 2,121 were getting aid) with 990,000 cows; now, it’s 3,222 shelters with 1.06 million cows. The state is also planning 353 shelters for bulls (milch cows do not get aid, only old, and infertile cows and bulls do).
For cows, the subsidy of Rs 40 per day for a mature cow/ bull and Rs 20 for calves helps take care of half the annual expenses. A scheme was also introduced this fiscal where small, registered cow shelters with their own land can avail up to Rs 9 lakh in aid to add or improve upon basic facilities; 82 shelters have availed of the offer so far.
Gehlot also amended the Nandishala scheme for bulls this year. The new plan envisages a private nandishala in all 353 panchayat samitis in the next two years; the target for this year is one in all 33 districts by March 31. Each nandishala will get Rs 1.57 crore to set up infrastructure. E-tenders have been floated for 10 districts so far and the process for all 33 districts is expected to be completed by February.
Gehlot’s love for cows is well known. During his previous term, he had set up a directorate for cows in 2013. His successor, the BJP’s Vasundhara Raje, expanded on it with an exclusive department for cows. Raje introduced massive aid for private cow shelters, funded by a cess on stamp duty and sale of liquor.
But all the aid has still not been able to cushion the fallout of the ban on slaughter, which has, like in many north Indian states, killed most cattle markets of indigenous breeds in Rajasthan. Most cattle owners now breed high-yield exotic breeds and buffaloes. Unproductive cattle are abandoned as strays.
A 2019 livestock census by the Union animal husbandry ministry says the number of cows and calves in Rajasthan rose by 4.6 per cent in the 2012-19 period, rising from 13 million to 13.6 million. The number of buffaloes rose by 5.5 per cent and is now almost equal to that of cows in the state. Stray cattle are up by 34 per cent; some 700,000 roam the roads. “It is too early to judge the impact of the aid, but we have prevented at least half a million cattle from being abandoned,” says Lal Singh, director, department of animal husbandry, Rajasthan.
The state is also introducing some “new interventions” to ensure that cows remain a preferred animal. This includes sex-sorted artificial insemination—which will help farmers select the sex of the calf—and embryo transfer tech to get high-quality calves. Meanwhile, the countrywide efforts to promote non-milk cow products to generate additional income continue. In November last year, Union MSME minister Narayan Rane launched an anti-bacterial fabric developed by the Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute in Jaipur. Earlier, Union minister for roads Nitin Gadkari had launched the state-owned institute’s dung-based Khadi Prakritik Paint and said it could be a Rs 6,000 crore market.
Rajasthan officials say around a thousand shelters are sustaining themselves partly through sale of cow products. This includes income from sale of milk, vermicompost, cow urine and other products like incense sticks. Some have turned entrepreneurs too. Lalit Pathmeda, 28, from village Pathmeda in Jalore district, has set up the Godham Panch Dravya Utpad Pvt Ltd with friends. It has a 5,000 litre plant to process cow urine extract. He buys cow urine at Rs 10 a litre, the extract of which sells for Rs 160-200 a litre. With claims aplenty about its medicinal properties, the demand for cow urine shot up during the pandemic. “Aid for shelters is not a permanent solution. The government should give direct subsidy to cattle owners for unproductive cattle who can then sell its urine and dung,” says Pathmeda. Officials, though, say the ‘urine-dung model’ may work only for cow shelters and big dairies. ■