Rajasthan government to set up a separate department for protection of cows

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government has said it was looking at setting up a separate department for the protection of cows, with a Facebook posting on Monday belying claims that a ministry would be formed for the task. “My government has taken a pledge of cow protection. Soon a separate department for undertaking this noble work will be set up,” a post on Vasundhara Raje’s official Facebook page said.

ET had reported on Saturday that there was confusion in the state’s animal husbandry department over the setting up of what was proposed to be India’s first state ministry for ‘cow conservation’.

State administration officials, however, told ET that they are awaiting a final decision. “The file is with the chief minister’s office and a final decision is expected to reach us in less than a week,” said Rajesh Mann, director of the animal husbandry directorate. “Nothing can be said at the moment about it.”

The chief minister’s office could not be reached for comment.

Another senior animal husbandry department official, who did no wish to be named, said that if the plan has to be limited to a department, the Gau Seva Commission and Cow Conservation Directorate will be subsumed under the new department, instead of the current arrangement.

The two operate under the animal husbandry department. This official could not confirm whether new posts for the department will be created. “We will have to wait for the reply from the CM’s office,” the official said.

Earlier, animal husbandry department officials had told ET that they were confused on how to go about creating a separate ministry for cows, when four state agencies under the animal husbandry department are already engaged in the welfare of cows. These are the Cow Conservation Directorate, Gau Seva Commission, Animal Husbandry Directorate and the Rajasthan Livestock Development Board, each with specific responsibilities.