COW PROTECTION

Govansh: Object of Worship and Traffic Obstacle

An exhibition in the Capital recently called 'Capital Cows' had beautifully mounted black-and-white photographs of the stray animals on the roads. Conceived by S.V. Krishnamurty, a retired industrial consultant and Chitti Prabhala, a J.J. School of Arts graduate, it was prompted by the plight of cattle on the roads.

That's one side of the coin. The other side belongs to the harried commuters stuck in mile-long traffic jams, screeching tyres protesting at the sudden application of brakes and scooterists cursing no one in particular - as the reason for it all happens to be in the shape and size of a small herd, refusing to budge.

Instances of accidents also pour in but the traffic police have no such data on accidents, according to ACP Virender Singh.

While the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Deputy Commissioner (In Charge of Veterinary Services), C.P. Gupta, admits that most of the strays are technically not strays, but belong to the dairies which let off the animals after milking them, he professes helplessness in curbing this tendency. "Even if we catch the strays, the owners get the release by paying the fees. And again, the same circle starts"

For the approximately 15,000 stray cattle on Delhi roads, there are only 11 goshallas or gosadans, and all of them came up only two years ago when the Khurana Government provided land for them.

All the gosadans are run by voluntary agencies. The MCD role is limited to picking up the strays and giving it to these gosadans every day and according to them, in the past two years, the 'cattle-catchers' team of eight persons has picked up 25,000 strays from their 12 MCD zones.

Running a gosadan requires a capital of at least Rs 23 lakh per year. The gosadan in-charge says they get no monetary help from the Government which (is) ready to pay to build more gosadans but not to run the existing ones. "Either give us financial assistance or remove the root-cause of the strays out of the city. Create a separate dairy Nagar.

Or else let them pay the gosadans a certain amount for the upkeep of their cattle," suggests the gosadan in- charge.

During the Emergency all the dairy owners were driven out of the Capital and the proposal to allot them land outside the city. "But no one knows what happened to the plan," says MCD.

Licensing of the dairies can also go a long way in keeping an eye on their movements.         

(Source: The Indian Express, 13 July, 1997)

Government Statement on Use of Cow dung in Agriculture

Both cow dung and chemical fertilizers have an important place in agriculture. Hence, there is no plan to rely exclusively on cow dung. Chemical fertilizers being a concentrated form of nutrients are essential for high crop yields. Use of chemical fertilizers has not caused any health-hazards.                                              

(Source: LSUQ No. 2234 dated 5.8.1997 by Vij)

Views of Ashok Singhal and M.M. Joshi

Arab countries are promoting and sponsoring the cow-slaughter to destabilise the cattle-oriented economy of the rural India, states Ashok Singhal. M.M.Joshi states that Science was in full support of prevention of cow-slaughter Cow-dung had the power (even) to neutralize

certain radioactive emissions. Cow-worship is part of our tradition; therefore, protection of the cow becomes the duty of all the countrymen.

If the BJP came to power at the Centre it would ban cow-slaughter in the country.

(Source: The Organiser, 5 October, 1997)