Chandigarh, March 13 – Haryana Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Vipul Goel affirmed the government’s commitment to protecting and promoting cows .After the year 2014, the Haryana Government has increased the budget for cow protection . He was responding to a calling attention motion during the budget session of the Haryana Assembly. The minister said that before our government formed in 2014, the budget for cow protection was Rs 2 crore, which our government increased to Rs 425 crore. Not only this, our government has increased the budget for fodder which was Rs 1.85 crore before 2014. This year, so far Rs 163 crore has been provided to cow shelters for fodder.

Sanctuaries built in Panipat and Hisar districts

He informed that the state government has built two cow sanctuaries with a capacity to keep 5,000 animals in village Nain (Panipat district) and village Dhandhoor (Hisar district) at a cost of Rs 8 crore. So far, about 6,000 destitute animals have been rehabilitated in these sanctuaries. The Gau Seva Aayog has a provision of Rs 10 crore for setting up sanctuaries. He informed that there are a total of 683 cow shelters across the state. Out of these, 185 are in municipal areas, which have a total capacity to keep 1,73,501 cattle. Additionally, municipalities have been directed to build more gaushalas based on the requirement. The Urban Local Bodies reported that they rehabilitated 56,615 stray animals in gaushalas from January 2024 to March 2025. They also sterilized 25,325 dogs and relocated 41,152 monkeys to forest areas during the same period.

cow protection : Rs 163 crore assistance given to cow shelters for fodder this year: Minister

He informed that to strengthen the gaushalas, the government is providing fodder subsidy to all the gaushalas through the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department, Haryana. The government has announced a fodder subsidy for stray animals and has released about Rs 163 crore to the state’s gaushalas in the current financial year. Under this scheme, gaushalas receive Rs 10 per calf, Rs 20 per cow, and Rs 25 per bull for feeding the animals. Since 2020, the government has released a total of Rs 294.55 crore. Additionally, registered gaushalas benefit from subsidized electricity at Rs 2 per unit.. As a result, the number of registered gaushalas in the state has increased by 158 during the last five years. This has increased the number of registered gaushalas from 525 to 683. He informed that to encourage gaushalas for rehabilitation of destitute animals, the state government has issued a notification. It has also constituted Special Gau Conservation Task Force for each district. Additionally, there is a State Level Special Gau Conservation Task Force Committee.

Veterinary hospitals opened in gaushalas

The minister informed that the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department has opened 17 Government Veterinary Hospitals. Additionally, 12 Government Veterinary Dispensaries have been established in various gaushalas of the state. This supports the protection, treatment, and security of animals. He informed that the government is working to prevent people from abandoning destitute animals on roads/streets. The municipalities have also imposed a fine of Rs 34.63 lakh from January 2024 to March 2025 on those who abandon the cattle after milking them. The municipalities are running the sterilization and population control programme for stray dogs effectivelyMunicipalities across the state sterilized a total of 25,325 stray dogs from January 2024 to March 2025.

Grant to gaushalas for Gobar Gas Plant

The Urban Local Bodies minister addressed a member’s point about setting up Gobar Gas Plant in gaushalas. The minister said a system is established to provide grants to gaushalas for this purpose. If any gaushala applies for this, it will be provided a grant to set up Gobar Gas Plant. During the discussion on the attention motion, Agriculture Minister Sh. Shyam Singh Rana suggested to protect the land of ‘gocharan’ and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sh. Krishan Kumar Bedi suggested that every member of the Vidhansabha and Additional Chief Secretary level officers should adopt one gaushala each. On this occasion, many other members of the Vidhan Sabha gave their suggestions for protection and promotion of cows as well as to get rid of the problem of stray dogs and monkeys, on which Minister Sh. Vipul Goel assured to take positive steps ahead.