To tackle the problem of stray cattle Animal Husbandry department organized a meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Dr. Shrikant Baldi here today. Dr. Baldi reviewed the progress of rehabilitation of stray cattle through Video Conferencing with the Deputy Commissioners of various districts.
The Chief Secretary said that establishing cow sanctuaries for stray cows is an alternate solution but people must be motivated to adopt the non-milching cattle housed in the sanctuary. He directed the department to explore possibilities to encourage people for taking care of their non-milching cows. He directed the Deputy Commissioners of to identify a Panchayat which can be identified as ‘Model Panchayat’ for stray cattle free Panchayat.
During the meeting, Dr. Baldi directed the Animal Husbandry department to put up the proposed scheme and guidelines to provide assistance for the management of cow sanctuaries in the State in the cabinet for approval. He also directed the department for implementation of Himachal Pradesh Gauseva Aayog in the state at the earliest. He said that the proposal of SMART Gaushalas must also be put up in the cabinet.
Deputy Commissioners of apprised the Chief Secretary about the latest progress of construction of cow sanctuaries in their respective districts. It was also informed in the meeting that since the year 2017 approximately 400 cases have been registered under various sections of HP Police Act and Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act in the State.
Dr. Baldi said that completion and functionality of the cow sanctuaries should take place in time bound manner. He further said that operation and management for smooth functioning of these cow sanctuaries are priorities of the State Government. He directed the department to form a task force comprising of local staff of the department, Panchayat Pradhan, members of local community to ensure cattle catching and their transport to the sanctuary.
He said that all cattle housed in sanctuaries or big go-sadans shall be tagged and entered in livestock register to be maintained by care taker. He said that a temple trust or an NGO should be appointed to run the sanctuaries.
Additional Chief Secretary Animal Husbandry Sanjay Gupta, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Ajay Kumar, Director Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Lalit Jain, Superintendent of Police Law and Order Dr. Khushal Sharma and other senior officers of Animal Husbandry Department were also present in the meeting.