Hyderabad, June 17 (IANS) The Telangana government has decided to formulate a comprehensive policy for cow protection in the state.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday gave directions to the officials in this regard. He also appointed a three-member committee comprising Special Chief Secretary to Animal Husbandry Department Sabyasachi Ghosh, Principal Secretary to Endowments Department Shailaja Ramaiyar and Secretary of the state Agriculture Department Raghunandan Rao. The committee will conduct an in-depth study on the establishment of cow shelters ( Goshalas) and also visit other states to study the cow protection policies.

The Chief Minister on Tuesday held a review meeting on cow protection in the state at his residence. He emphasised that the new policy should focus mainly on cow protection in view of the importance of cows in our culture and the sentiments of the devotees.

The Chief Minister was anguished over the spate of deaths of cows donated in large numbers by the devotees to cow shelters due to space constraints and other problems.

With the objective of protecting the cows and overcoming the difficult conditions, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy ordered the officials to construct the cow shelters with state-of-the-art facilities in four places in the state.

These cow shelters will be established in sizeable areas in the famous temple of Vemulawada, where devotees donate calves as part of the ‘Kode Mokku’ ritual, Yadagirigutta, Yenkepally near Hyderabad city and at the Animal Husbandry university in the first phase.

The Chief Minister suggested that special attention should be paid to the protection of calves donated with utmost devotion by the devotees and instructed the officials to establish a cow shelter on a sprawling over 100 acres of land at Vemulawada.

He made it clear that the state government is ready to spend liberally for cow protection. During the meeting, the officials submitted an approach paper related to the management of cow shelters to the Chief Minister.

State Animal Husbandry Minister Vakiti Srihari, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretaries V. Seshadri, Srinivasa Raju, Special Chief Secretary to Animal Husbandry department Sabyasachi Ghosh, Principal Secretary to Endowments Shailaja Ramayyar, Agriculture Secretary Raghunandan Rao, HMDA Commissioner Sarfaraz Ahmed, Animal Husbandry Director Gopi, Ranga Reddy District Collector Narayana Reddy and others participated in the meeting.

–IANS

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