New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to set up a ‘gau cabinet’ for the “protection and promotion of cows” in the state, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday.
The first meeting of the ‘gau (cow) cabinet’ will be held on November 22, he said.
“It has been decided to constitute a ‘gau cabinet’ for the protection and fostering of godhan (cow and its progeny) in the state,” Chouhan said in a tweet in Hindi.
Ministers of the animal husbandry, forest, panchayat and rural development, revenue, home and farmers’ welfare departments will be included in this cabinet, he said.
प्रदेश में गोधन संरक्षण व संवर्धन के लिए ‘गौकैबिनेट’ गठित करने का निर्णय लिया गया है।
पशुपालन, वन, पंचायत व ग्रामीण विकास, राजस्व, गृह और किसान कल्याण विभाग गौ कैबिनेट में शामिल होंगे।
पहली बैठक 22 नवंबर को गोपाष्टमी पर दोपहर 12 बजे गौ अभ्यारण, आगर मालवा में आयोजित की जाएगी।
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) November 18, 2020
“The first meeting will be held at 12 noon on November 22 to mark Gopashtami at Gau Sanctuary in Agar Malwa,” Chouhan said.
The ‘gau sanctuary’ was set up by Chouhan’s government in September 2017. According to Hindustan Times, the Kamdhenu Gau Abhyaranya in Agar Malwa is 190 km northwest of Bhopal and was developed by the MP Gau Samvardhan Board at a cost of about Rs 32 crore. It was privatised later due to a financial crisis.
BJP’s Madhya Pradesh chief spokesperson Deepak Vijayvargiya told the Indian Express that the decision is aimed at “developing an alternative source of rural employment by harnessing the potential of cows and the resources available through it”.
He said that industrialisation cannot be the only solution towards providing employment and that the economy centred around cows is sustainable. “Through this cabinet, the government will provide for sustainable infrastructure for developing a cow-economy to raise incomes in the rural setup,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)