PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand government has decided to make geo-tagging of all bovines mandatory to solve the problem of destitute bovine animals in the State.
A decision in this regard was taken in a meeting of the Uttarakhand Animal Welfare Board on construction of cow shelters at the State secretariat on Tuesday. The chief secretary Radha Raturi chaired the meeting.
As per the data of the board there are 20,887 destitute bovine animals in the State. Emphasizing on the use of modern technology and IT for long-term solution to the problem of helpless bovine animals, the CS said that apart from mandatory geo-tagging, the data analysis related to age, medical and other information of each bovine animal in the app and dashboard will soon be launched in the State.
Raturi directed the secretary Urban Development department to ensure that all the municipal bodies review, monitor and take concrete steps for sending the destitute bovine animals found on the roads in urban areas to the cow shelters.
She said that in Uttarakhand, the honorarium given to those who adopt destitute bovine animals is Rs 80 per animal per day which is the highest compared to other states in the country.
In the meeting Raturi directed the Urban Development department to complete the construction work of 36 cow shelters to be established in urban areas soon. The department has identified land for 36 cow shelters in all the districts of the state and the construction work of 13 shelters is under progress.
The chief secretary directed the Panchayati Raj department to start the construction work of 26 cow shelters in the rural areas of the State soon. For this, an amount of Rs 10 crore has already been released to the department through the missing link scheme, she said. The department officers informed that the work of identification of land for the cow shelters has been completed.
She described Gausevak Yojana as important in the care of destitute animals and instructed for its maximum expansion.
On a stern note, she said that the operation and maintenance of the cow shelters both under construction and those already operational should be monitored. She said that adequate arrangements of fodder, straw, light, medical care, security and medicines for the cows in the cow shelters should be ensured.
Secretaries BVRCC Purushottam, Nitesh Jha, Chandresh Kumar, V Shanmugam and others attended the meeting.
