Gujarat faces a bovine problem

Cows freed by shelter homes in protest against lack of govt. aid block highways and buildings

Ahead of the Assembly elections, Gujarat faces a unique problem as hundreds of cows are seen either blocking traffic on highways or cow herds entering government buildings and blocking vehicle movements in cities.

The reason being over 200 cow shelter homes run by charitable trusts have set free the animals in protest against the lack of promised government aid.

As a result, videos of cows walking through government buildings or creating traffic snarls on national highways have gone viral on social media platforms, creating a major embarrassment for the ruling party, which has recently scrapped in the Assembly a cattle control Bill that was supposed to deal with the menace of stray animals in the cities.

The protest by the charitable trusts have been triggered by the government’s failure to provide financial assistance of ₹500 crore, promised in the last budget.

The financial assistance was announced to maintain shelters for cows and other old animals across the State.

Banaskantha Panjrapoles (cowsheds) trustee Kishor Dave told the media that for more than two weeks, they have been protesting and demanding financial assistance as promised and their repeated pleas fell on deaf ears, prompting them to release thousands of cows on the State and national highways besides government premises in north Gujarat.

“We have been telling the government to release the funds but so far, not a penny has been released,” Mr. Dave said.