The newly formed Congress government in Madhya Pradesh is on the backfoot after the death of more than 2 dozen cows in the country’s first cow sanctuary at Agar Malwa district. As MP is witnessing severe cold waves it is expected that cows will die of this weather.

In 2012, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had laid the foundation stone for this cow sanctuary and it was inaugurated in September 2017. But the condition of cows in this sanctuary is in doubt after they have been dying continuously.

This gave rise to questions on the facilities in the sanctuary. As of now, there are some 4,700 cows in the sanctuary and they are in a very bad condition.

Madhya Pradesh’s animal husbandry minister Laakhan Singh Yadav has accused the previous Shivraj-government for ignoring the arrangements made during the construction of the cow sanctuary. Yadav said, I was informed that 18 died in the sanctuary on Tuesday. Officials told me that some of these cows were injured in an accident, some of the cows were suffering from various disease, and some of them died from cold.

The minister also alleged, This cow sanctuary was inaugurated during the regime of Shivraj-government and I believe that the construction of the shelter was not right.

Though, I will visit the sanctuary soon and will take proper action against officials, in case any of them are found guilty. Yadav also said that the government will increase the budget provided for the welfare of the cows. At present, the state government’s budget is `4.50 per cow, but this amount is not enough for so many animals, he added.

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