11, Jan 2016

Jan 11 2016 : The Times of India (Mumbai)
Priyanka Kakodkar
Mumbai
Ten months after the controversial beef ban was enforced in Maharashtra, not a single state-run cattle shelter has been set up due to lack of central funds. The state government continues to rely entirely on private gaushalas to care for the ageing bovines, which farmers earlier could sell to abattoirs.

The Centre has released only Rs 1 crore in the past 10 months from the Rs 40 crore grant sought by the state to set up its own cattle shelters and aid private gaushalas.The state had applied for funding under the National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development.

When asked about the fund-crunch, state animal husbandry minister Eknath Khadse said, “The Centre has asked us for some more details on our proposal. In time, the money will come in.“ The state had planned to set up a shelter to house 1,000 cattle at Mumbai’s Aarey Colony and two other centres to breed indigenous species of cattle in Pune and Amrava i. “A total of 40% of the shel er in Mumbai was meant to house old cattle. The rest will be healthy cattle which he state will buy and breed,“ said a senior official.