The ‘Gau Gram Swavlamban Abhiyan Chhattisgarh’, an RSS backed campaign, has welcomed the decision of the ruling Congress government in Chhattisgarh to procure cow dung from cattle owners and farmers under state’s Gaudhan Nyay Yojna and has demanded that the government also procures cow urine and convert it into bio-fertilizer.
On Tuesday, the convener of the campaign, Bhuneshwar Sahu, along with other officer bearers, met chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and submitted a memorandum welcoming the step to procure cow-dung.
The leaders of the campaign demanded that cow urine is procured from cattle owners and cow shelters (Kotha) are constructed in every household. Besides, they also asked the government to set up an organic market for purchasing cow-based organic farm produce at a reasonable price.
The memorandum stated that in November 2019, more than 26,000 framers of the state had demanded that the government purchased cow dung and urine and also encouraged the production of organic fertilizers.
“The CM has accepted the demand to purchase cow dung and we are thanking him for this programme,” the memorandum stated, adding that the CM has now been asked to fulfill the other demand for the purchase of Gaumutra through cooperative societies.
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“Some RSS workers have started a campaign ‘Gau Gram Swavlamban Abhiyan’ and they have made me the patron of the campaign. The office bearers of the campaign thanked the government for cow-dung procurement…If anyone is doing good things RSS will support it,” said Bisraram Yadav, Prant Sanchalak of RSS.
The Chhattisgarh government decided last week to procure cow-dung at Rs 1.5 per kilogram from July 20 onwards under the Gaudhan Nyay Yojana scheme.
The cow dung will be collected door-to door by Gauthan Samiti and fortnightly payments will be made to cattle owners and farmers.
On June 25, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel launched ‘Gaudhan Nyay Yojana’ claiming that the tradition of open grazing in Chhattisgarh leads to loss of crops and the stray cattle cause road accidents in the city, leading to loss of life and property. The government noted that cows are abandoned once they stop giving milk and hence to make cow rearing a profitable business, it was decided to procure cow dung from farmers and cattle owners.
The government also directed the urban administration department to make arrangements to prevent stray animals from roaming in the cities. The department will be responsible for purchasing cow dung and production of vermicompost.
Baghel had said at the launch that the purpose of the scheme was to promote cattle rearing in the state and to support cattle owners, mostly farmers.
“The government tried to strengthen the rural economy of the state through the ‘Narva, Garuva, Ghuruwa, Badi’ scheme in which we have developed cowsheds in 2,200 villages of the state. In the next two-three months, about 5,000 more cowsheds will be developed in the state. This scheme is an incremental step forward,” he had said.
