A slew of measures including creation of exclusive dairy plants for ‘desi’ cows, producing cow fodder under MGNREGA and empowering animal welfare boards to take action against illegal smuggling and slaughtering are being planned by the Centre in order to conserve ‘gauvansh’ and ‘gaushalas’ in the country.
Two Union Ministers whose departments deal with subjects of the bovine – Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh – today addressed a national seminar being held here on ‘gauvansh’ (cow clan) and ‘gaushalas’ (cow shed) and sought help of various State governments, farmers and cow owners to help protect the animal who they said is the “back bone” of the Indian economy.