Mohali stray cattle welcome in jails, says minister

MOHALI: The district needs cattle pounds, and Punjab minister for jails Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has offered land for it inside prisons. He has even proposed to let inmates look after the cows and milk them.
Randhawa has asked deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan to provide the impounded stray cattle with fodder and veterinary treatment in case the project materializes. The minister floated his idea at the district grievance redress committee meeting here on Thursday after getting to know how Mohali was short of pounds to hold the cows and buffaloes that dairy farmers let loose on its streets to graze.
Randhawa said: “At the meeting, they told me that overcrowding at Mohali’s existing cattle pound had killed more than 200 cattle heads. So, I offered the administration to keep stray cattle inside any of the jails, where we will spare land for the purpose. We have enough surplus land in jails and many inmates to put to work.”
The officers concerned have 10 days to submit a report, explaining how those impounded cows and buffaloes died inside the pound. In March, former deputy commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra had ordered shifting of 300 cattle heads at 20 every day to Lalru for decongesting the pound and preventing further deaths. But there has been no action on those directions since. The municipal corporation has been after Gmada (Greater Mohali Area Development Authority) to get 2 acres behind the existing pound in the Industrial Area Phase I for its extension. But that request is also pending with the local bodies department.
Randhawa has given the administration his word to solving the problem and have a review meeting every 10th day of the month in Mohali. When a member of the redress committee alleged negligence in road construction at Balongi village, the minister sent the executive engineer concerned to the site for inspection. He found the work satisfactory. He recommended police verification of paying guests and warned illegal entrants into this business of stern action.
He told the redress committee to stay in touch with people to know their problems and solve those fast. He asked the committee to gather every month with an agenda for the respective departments that must work on those complaints. Deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan promised to support the committee in making governance clean and efficient.