BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government has invited private players to build 300 ' smart gaushalas ' in the state under its 'Project Gaushala'. Chief minister Kamal Nath has decided to approach non-resident Indians (NRIs) to fund of the ambitious project for which the government has also offered free land.

"A big firm into animal husbandry business has offered us to build 300 smart gaushalas worth Rs 11 crore each to help promote government's 'Project Gaushala'. The company want free land from the state while, the revenue generation would be done by selling products extracted from the cattle", said state animal husbandry minister, Lakhan Singh Yadav, on Friday.

Yadav further said, "We are also in touch with NRIs to see the project taking shape and a few American companies have also approached us with proposals with whom the government has convened meetings to discuss their plan".

He said new companies seeking government land has envisaged to build air-conditioned cow sheds to house the cattle while, revenue will be generated from `gau mutra' (cow urine), products of cow dung and hair from the tail. The company has also listed a variety of medicines to be prepared from the animal extract, he said.

After taking over the reins of power in Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath had claimed to open 1,000 cow shelters for abandoned cattle across the state in four months and provide land to private companies to build gaushalas. The project was estimated to cost at Rs 450 crore.

However, after six months of the Congress government in power, new cow sheds were not prepared due to paucity of funds and Congress government's commitment to farmers and poor. Now, the government has decided to approach private companies to fulfil the promise.

A review meeting of the animal husbandry department held on Thursday decided to constitute district and block level animal welfare committees to speed up the project. Chief minister Nath said, "There is need to launch a movement for the protection of cows and to involve more people to this project. The government is committed to open more gaushalas with the help of its own resources or the private sector".

Building gaushalas in the state was one of the promises made by the Congress its vision document (election manifesto) to take over the BJP's love for cows. The Congress government has not only increased the subsidy of cattle feed to Rs 20 per day from Rs 10 per day during BJP regime but, also begun construction of 955 gaushalas in various districts. A total 614 gaushalas were being run by private hands while 300 smart gaushalas were to be constructed by new companies.

"This would help government remove the stray cattle from the main roads in the state in one or two years of time", said minister Yadav.

