Madhya Pradesh minister demands separate ministry for cow welfare
A sanyasi-turned-head of state’s Cow Protection Board Swami Akhileshwaranand Giri has demanded the formation of a separate ministry for cow welfare by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government to transform Madhya Pradesh into a swarnim Pradesh (golden state).
The 63-year-old seer who turned a sanyasi when just 16 years old and was bestowed with the title of Mahamandaleshwar by the Niranjani Akhara during the 2010 Kumbh Mela in Hardiwar has been heading the MP Cow Protection Board since 2016.
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The seer who was elevated to the rank of a cabinet minister by the state government last week only said on Wednesday that he is preparing a proper and detailed draft for backing the demand to create a separate ministry of cow welfare in MP.
The draft will be presented at the next meeting of the Board to be chaired by the CM himself next month.”If Rajasthan can have a separate directorate for cow welfare (gaupalan nideshalaya), then why can’t MP, which houses perhaps the maximum safe cow population in the country, have a separate ministry for the cow welfare. If MP can have a separate Happiness Department, why can’t it have a separate ministry for cows,” the Swami told.
According to him, while 600 odd gaushalas (cowsheds) supported by the Cow Protection Board house more than 1.53 lakh cows, another 90,000 to 1 lakh cows are roaming on the roads.
“We want to not only focus on the management and care of cows in cowsheds, but also manage the cows roaming on roads.”He added that creation of ministry will ensure that it no longer has to rely on the funds released by the Agricultural Mandi Board of the state government, but has a separate budget of its own.
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