india

Updated: Jul 08, 2019 09:13 IST

India’s first cow sanctuary, set up by the previous BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government in September 2017, will be privatised by the Congress-led government, an official said.

Kamdhenu Gau Abhyaranya in Agar Malwa, 190 km north west of Bhopal, was developed by the MP Gau Samvardhan Board by spending about Rs 32 crore. Around 4,000 cows are living in the sanctuary which is spread across 472 hectares. The decision of privatisation is being taken due to financial crises. Soon, the department will issue a notification to invite interested organisations, said a higher officer of the Animal Husbandry department.

“The issues of poor management and regular deaths of cow in the sanctuary have been raised many times. The government tried to improve the facilities but it was getting hard to manage it. Some renowned NGOs like Akshaypatra showed interest in managing the sanctuary at no profit no loss basis. But we will hand over the sanctuary according to rules,” said the official.

According to officials in the sanctuary, in last over one year more than 600 cows died due to extreme weather condition.

Akshay Patra also runs Jaipur Municipal Corporation’s Hingonia cow shelter in outskirts of the pink city.

Confirming the news, minister of animal husbandry department Lakhan Singh Yadav said, “We want public participation. Here privatisation doesn’t mean to give the sanctuary to a company for making money but we want to allow a social or religious organisation to manage it and serve the cows. The well-qualified organisation knows that non-milch cows are also beneficial in many aspects...,” he added.

MP Gau Samvardhan Board former chairperson Swami Akhileshwaranand Giri said, “I support the decision as it is almost impossible for a government to run a sanctuary... Even, BJP-led state government was mulling over this idea”

However, BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “The Congress-led state government is trying to shed the responsibility from every big project, which started by the previous BJP-led state government.”