Gujarat: CM’s plan of cattle-free cities lost in files

GANDHINAGAR: Chief minister Vijay Rupani’s announcement that cows and other animals from cities would be moved to a dedicated piece of land on the outskirts has been forgotten and left mired in a bureaucratic tangle. Despite several months passing since the announcement, not one of the eight municipal corporations have begun the process of shifting cattle away from cities. The state revenue, urban development and animal husbandry departments are passing the buck around.
To avert traffic jams caused by cattle blocking roads and accidents, the Gujarat CM had announced in April that the government would provide land at token prices and give financial assistance to cattle owners in eight municipal corporations, so that modern cattle farms can be set up 15km-20km away from the cities. So far, the government has not formed a scheme for cattle owners or allocated land to municipal corporations to shift cattle. The decision was announced by chief minister Vijay Rupani while disbursing Rs 6.77 crore in loans or assistance to 513 cattle owners at a function in Gandhinagar under the aegis of the Gujarat Gopalak Vikas Nigam, as part a scheme for the welfare of the Rabari and Bharwad communities.

The CM said the government will provide electricity, water, cattle sheds and other amenities for these cattle stations, besides assistance of up to Rs 3 lakh for each cattle station, to set up a total of 5,000 cattle stations. The government allocated Rs 140 crore under this head in this year’s budget.

An officer in the state urban development department said, “The municipal corporations, in coordination with local revenue authorities, have to identify the land. We have not received a formal proposal from any corporation yet. Corporations are yet to start surveys to determine the cattle population in municipal corporation areas.”

The state’s animal husbandry and cooperation department has also not formed a formal scheme to be offered to the cattle owners living in cities. Rupani had said our culture has for ages the revered the cow, the Ganges, the Gita and Girdhar and cattle owners have been taking good care of all these four entities. He said it was time cattle owners supplemented their income and added value to their profession through education and self-employment as part of the government’s development mantra of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’.