india

Updated: Aug 07, 2017 23:40 IST

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) will petition Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath on the need to set up a dedicated cow welfare ministry at the Centre and in the states.

The saints associated with the VHP may take up the issue during a meeting likely to be convened by the Vishva Hindu Parishad soon, office bearers of the Hindu organisation told HT.

While the demand for cow protection isn’t new for the VHP, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate, the push for a cow ministry is timed with BJP chief Amit Shah indicating in Lucknow that a cow ministry was among the several proposals under discussion.

Concluding his three-day visit to the state capital last week, Shah was asked if the Modi government had any plans to set up a cow ministry, a demand that had been regularly flagged by saints in the three years since the NDA came to power. “Various suggestions have come. Discussions are on,” Shah had said during the end of his press meet to spark speculation.

“The issue of cow protection has always been dear to us. Now, we expect a dedicated ministry to support and boost an entire cow-friendly ecosystem,” said the VHP’s Ayodhya-based spokesman Sharad Sharma.