Mumbai: Amid a nationwide debate on cow slaughter, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir on Sunday said there is a need to protect the cow by setting up dedicated sanctuaries. “The Centre is considering a proposal to set up ‘cow sanctuaries’ and initiate ‘Project Cow’ on the lines of Project Tiger,” Mr. Ahir said.
He was addressing a national conference on ‘Bos Indicus, The Glorious Indian Cow’, organised by the Virat Hindustan Sangam (VHS) at the Bombay Stock Exchange. “It is difficult to maintain cows which are not self-sustaining, so we need to protect them by setting up sanctuaries for them,” the minister said.
The conference was organised to bring about awareness on the protection of the cow and how it benefits the economy. On the occasion, a mobile application called Cow Connect, which will provide information on the different cow breeds, cow products and their manufacturers, was launched.
It was attended by ISKCON spiritual leader Radhanath Swami Maharaj, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and Hrishikesh Mafatlal, chairman, Mafatlal Group of Industries. Mr. Mafatlal called upon industries and corporates to undertake looking after cows as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) because “the mindset of business and industry is ingrained in the Indian culture of giving back to the society a part of the earnings”.