AHMEDABAD: Even as the Supreme Court has sought a reply from the Centre and six states — Gujarat, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Karnataka— on why cow protection groups shouldn’t be banned, Gujarat’s Gauchar Vikas and Gauseva Board is thinking of increasing the number of ‘Best Gaurakshak’ awards from the current three to six to encourage cow protection. The board has already prepared a proposal for inclusion in the new budget year.

Currently, the cow board gives an annual reward of Rs 50,000 to the ‘best three’ gau rakshaks who have either helped stop ferrying of cows or its progeny or saved them from slaughter. It needs mention that the board had increased the prize amount from Rs 25,000 in 2012-13 to Rs 50,000 in 2015-16 for cow vigilantism and for tip-offs about illegal ferrying of the bovine animal or helped rescue cows from the slaughterhouse.

Reliable sources in the board said the increase in prize amount for six awards is yet to be decided. “But we will definitely increase the number of awards so that more gau rakshaks can be benefited,” a cow board member said. “Good people should be rewarded in our state. This will also encourage gau rakshaks to work with dedication to save the cow or its progeny.”

Sources said that the final decision on increasing the number of gaurakshak awards will be taken after the state home department completes screening of real and fake gaurakshaks.

It may be recalled that the state government had swung into action only after the Supreme Court sought reply from the six states in connection with a PIL seeking a ban on self-styled gau rakshaks.

According to information collected through Right to Information (RTI), the cow board has already spent over Rs3 crore on gau raksha from year 2011-12 to 2015-16. This excludes funds given to panjrapols (cattle shelter) for the welfare of cows in Gujarat, the state where brutally incidents like the flogging of dalit youths at Una on July 11, and lynching of a Muslim youth named, Ayyub, by self-styled gau rakshaks, took place.

