The hype over protection of cows notwithstanding, the condition of cow shelters or ‘gaushalas’ across the country remains pathetic .

A probe by Delhi-based non-profit organisation Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) in 179 gaushalas in 13 States and two Union Territories has found that the records kept by employees were incomplete, tagging of animals was not done, breeding frequency of cows was not recorded and most gaushalas did not separate sick from healthy animals.

The States covered were Delhi, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in the north, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam in the east, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the south and Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Goa in the west.

Mismanagement

In 76 per cent of gaushalas, the animals were kept tethered most of the time, none of the gaushalas had trained staff, leading to widespread mismanagement and lack of professional care, and 86 per cent gaushalas undertook breeding of animals, which raises the number of animals beyond the capacity of capacity of gaushalas, the FIAPO report said.

It added that the gaushalas also kept sick, dry, and injured animals and the males of the species. A majority of these animals do not produce milk and thus it is unfair to expect them to depend on a revenue generation system centered around milk. “Seventy-four per cent of gaushalas are forced to depend on milk from cows to generate income for their sustenance. Milking for revenue generation is a serious issue in gaushalas as this makes them similar to dairy farms,” the report said.

Income generation

The report suggested ingenious ways to move revenue generation away from milk to cow products such as dung and urine. “Bovine animals, by nature of their digestive tracts, produce large amounts of manure. A cattle facility, with 2,500 animals, produces as much waste as a city with around 4,11,000 people. This waste, including urine may be used to produce a variety of products by gaushalas which may further be used for organic farming and to create zero-cost gaushalas,” it said.

For example, cost of setting up biogas plant measuring 15 to 20 cubic metre which is a one-time investment is ₹5,00,000 and yearly maintenance cost is ₹50,000. In return, value of electricity generated per year is ₹4,38,000, if the plant is set in a gaushala with 100 cattle.

Similarly, net income per year from fertiliser per 100 cattle for a gaushala will be ₹33,600, while organic pesticide will fetch ₹2,00,490 and floor cleaner manufactured from cow urine will fetch ₹1,25,000.

“Alternate revenue models for gaushalas can include cow urine as floor cleaners, compost manure as organic fertilizer, fuel and biogas, paper, dung as building material, insect repellent and disinfectant,” the report said.

India has 11.9 crore bovines, according to the latest livestock census. This is approximately 30 per cent of the world's bovine population. Most of these animals are kept principally for milk, as confirmed by the 35 per cent increase in exotic high milk yielding breeds of cattle since the previous census.

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