Adopt stray cows and get honoured
Idea behind the step is to conserve cows with cooperation from the people
The Rajasthan state government, through a letter to all district collectors, yesterday announced felicitation of those who adopt stray cows on Republic Day and Independence Day.
The letter was issued by the Department of ‘Gopalan’ (Cow Welfare) to district collectors, urging them to “motivate cow lovers, donors, non governmental organisations and social workers to adopt stray cows.”
“The idea behind the step is to conserve cows with cooperation from the people. Those who adopt stray cows and undertake welfare activities will be felicitated by district collectors on the occasion of Independence Day (August 15) and Republic Day (January 26),” director of department of Gopalan Vishram Meena told Gulf News.
Meena said it was a common practice for people in Rajasthan to celebrate their birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other such occasions by spending time with adopted cows at local cow shelters.
“The state government would like to encourage such practices. We have issued a letter to all district collectors with details of the campaign for the conservation of stray cows,” he said.
According to the proposal, the interested parties are required to give details of cow adoption to district collectors of their area.
“Once the collector verifies the details and the veracity of claims, such people will be felicitated first with a certificate at the district level,” he said.
Visit cows anytime
Explaining the scheme, he said anybody who wanted to adopt cows could deposit the amount decided by the local cow shelter.
“This would allow the interested party to visit the cows anytime. And those who want to keep the stray cows at their houses can also do so,” he added.
The adopted cows will be tagged by officials from the animal husbandry department.
“The idea behind the move is to ensure the income of the cow shelters and effective upkeep of the animals,” Joint Director of Department of Gopalan Anil Kaushik told Gulf News.