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Kuldeep Chauhan
The newly-constituted Himachal Pradesh Gau Sadan Aayog has filed a petition before the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission seeking subsidised power for all proposed cow sanctuaries and 141 gau sadans and gaushalas being run by different NGOs in the state.
The regulator will take a call on this shortly, sources said. Out of 141 gau sadans, over 80 have already availed subsidised domestic connections. The Jai Ram government is planning to have cow sanctuaries in different parts of the state to protect “gau vansh” by taking care of stray cattle in the state. Not only this, the government is also promoting zero-budget natural farming in the state in a big way. Farmers are being encouraged to breed “desi” and “pahari” cows to promote natural farming and the government is providing all facilities and cheap electricity connections for gau samvardhan (promotion).
Gau rakshaks said they should be given free electricity connections as they were doing a “social service and it was an agriculture related non-profit activity”. Not only this, they said they were taking care of the “gau vansh” and solving the stray cattle menace as well.
Sudesh Chaudhary, member secretary, HP Gau Sadan Aayog-cum-director, Animal Husbandry Department, on March 2, submitted the petition to the state regulator.
Chaudhary said there were 141 registered gaushalas and gau sadans in the state and these have either been provided with domestic or commercial connection, he said.
The Aayog has pleaded that the regulator should consider gau sadans, gaushalas and gau sanctuaries in the category of agriculture, so that they can avail special subsidy for this. But the Aayog has not listed as to how many cows live in each of these gaushalas and gau sadans, according to the list available with The Tribune. According to the Animal Husbandry Department’s 2012 animal Census report, there are estimated 32,160 stray cattle in the state. “Out of this, about 12,900 have been given shelter at the gau sadans, but the rest are still out in the open. The exact data, however, will be out after the fresh Census in 2020,” Chaudhary said.