Mridula Sinha has promised to look into goshala issues: activist

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha on Wednesday adopted a cow and a calf after visiting a cattle conservation centre in north Goa. She performed a go pooja [cow worship] in the presence of nearly 100 “cow lovers” at the Jai Sriram Gosanvardhan Kendra (JSGK) in Nanus, Valpoi, and recalled her close childhood association with cows in her village.

The Governor had expressed a wish to adopt a cow when the JSGK paid her a visit with a memorandum on cow protection and conservation.

Advocate Hanumant Parab, head of the 250-cattle-strong JSGK, told The Hindu that Ms. Sinha’s visit went off very satisfactorily. He said the chosen animals would be transported to the Raj Bhavan complex at Dona Paula near here on Thursday. “She has promised to take up issues related to cattle conservation as well as financial problems faced by goshalas [cow sheds] with the government,” Mr. Parab said.

He said the Governor had already got a cow shed put up on the Raj Bhavan premises, where she would do a darshan of the cow and conduct go pooja every day.

JSGK and other organisations committed to the cause of “Govansha Sanvardhan [conservation of cow progeny]” have been opposing cow slaughters in Goa.

Only recently, similar organisations, under the banner of advocate Parab-led Govansh Suraksha Abhiyan, petitioned the Governor against a Bombay High Court directive allowing the slaughter of bulls above the age of 12 at the State-owned abattoir in Usgao, during the Bakrid festival.