Yogi Aditya Nath-led BJP government recently issued an order, asking district authorities to transfer stray cattle to Gau Shalas (cow shelters).
The directive has come in view of farmers’ anger, especially, their complaints about stray cattle destroying their crops. Now, even a cow welfare cess is being levied on citizens.
This is the failure of governance as without understanding the root cause of the problem, an order was issued to supposedly ‘solve’ the problem immediately.
The truth is that transferring stray cattle to the specific locations like cow shelters is just a temporary relief from the public chaos and losses on account of the cattle menace.
While there is a need for concrete steps and real solution, this order is nothing but misusing bureaucracy to control the situation that arose as a result of failed government policies.
The government could have taken a proper analysis of the pros and the cons of the ban on animal slaughter. The issue is nothing but something that was created by the government’s excessive curbs on slaughter.
The major cause of such policy disasters is the state’s failure in adapting to changing times and bringing religious dogma in the public policy. The state should be liable to smooth functioning of the public policies and welfares of the civil society irrespective of castes, colours, creed and religions.
India is home to 190.9 million cattle according to the livestock census, 2012, where alone Uttar Pradesh has the cattle population of 19.55 million as per the 2012 livestock census.
If taking the hidebound hard turnover ratio of 10 per cent. It would mean about 20 lakh “surplus” animal every year. The normal lifespan of a cow or bull is 15 years.
The cow or bull becomes unproductive for the farmers after it (bovine) reaches the age off 8-9yrs. By this time, the milk-yielding quality and quantity is dropped to a level where the maintenance becomes difficult for the farmers.
And, this leads to the loosing of the unproductive of cows in the open space. Farmers are not left with any other solution except letting them go and graze in the open space. This is why the numbers of female cows increased from 102.99 million to 122.98 million in recent years.
This is the cause of a permanent headache of the government. According to the Uttar Pradesh government records, there are around 6-7 lakh cattle that the cow shelters can take in.
Around Rs 2,190 crore a year would be the cost of feeding the cattle alone from the annual budget. The days would come soon when the nation will have to debate over allocating a sum of an amount from the nation’s budget to creating more cow shelters or schools and hospitals.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NEWSD and NEWSD does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
