Panel Set For Stray Cow Welfare: Delhi Assembly

Speaker Goel orders the committee to submit the report

New Delhi: After slamming, the BJP ruled municipal corporations of Delhi of financial "misappropriation," the MLA's of ruling party Aam Aadmi Party and the Delhi Assembly constituted a panel to look into matters of stray cow welfare and utilisation of funds given to "gaushalas."

According to the officials, the proposal to form the committee was moved by AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj and it was approved by the House on the first day of its two-day session.

Taking notes from the discussion the Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said that the committee will submit its report on the issues to the House in a month.

In a discussion on the issues, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators slammed the BJP and the municipal corporations for not coming up with a single "gaushala" (cow shelter) in the city and not attending to stray cattle.

Delhi has three municipal corporations -- South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) -- and all have mayors who are from the BJP.

Mr Bhardwaj said that due to the apathy of the civic bodies, stray cows eat from garbage dumps, consuming plastic and even nails.

"Such a situation has come that you have to look for garbage dumps if you wish to find cows. MCDs (municipal corporations of Delhi) have not paid money to NGOs managing gaushalas," Bhardwaj alleged.

It was during the discussion that he proposed that the assembly should form a committee to look into these issues. 

AAP's Palam MLA Bhawna Gaur said that MCDs have failed miserably in managing cow shelters and also did not fulfil their promise, made during the 2017 civic elections, of opening new "gaushalas".

"Four gaushalas are being run by civic bodies. MCDs have not given money to gaushalas due to which their upkeep is not happening, and many cows are either dying or roaming on roads and eating garbage. It is because of corruption in MCDs that they are unable to give funds for gaushalas," she said.

The civic bodies had announced that they will make Delhi "cattle free capital", but nothing has been done so far on that front, she said.  The EDMC had in January 2021 announced that it will put microchips on cows so that they don't roam on roads. But nothing has been done so far, Gaur alleged.

AAP MLA Rohit Kumar Mehraulia said that BJP's politics revolves around the cow but still "gaay mata" is in such distress.