Himachal govt wants cow to be made 'mother of nation'

DHARAMSHALA: The Himachal Pradesh assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to declare the cow as 'rashtra mata (mother of the nation)'. The assembly will now forward the resolution to the Centre.
BJP-ruled Uttarakhand had in September become the first state to demand the cow be declared 'rashtra mata'. The resolution was tabled by Congress MLA Anirudh Singh, who was supported by ruling BJP legislators.Stressing cow was not a political issue, Singh said, "Cow is not bound to any caste, creed or religion and makes a huge contribution to humanity."
"People abandon cows when they stop giving milk, so there is need for such a move," Singh said. He also demanded a law to prevent incidents of cow vigilantism and mob lynching in the state. Himachal Pradesh was shaken by a case of cow vigilantism when on October 16, 2015 a man from Uttar Pradesh was lynched by a mob in Sirmaur district.
Animal husbandry minister Virender Kanwar said the state government is setting up several cow sanctuaries in the state. "Rs 1.52 crore has been sanctioned for a sanctuary in Sirmaur district. Other sanctuaries are proposed for Solan and Kangra districts," he added.
The MLAs also urged the government to promote a local cow breed, which is being renamed as 'Gauri'. The state government has already written to the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources in Karnal for approval of the new name.
Giving the example of Rajasthan, the legislators also sought a separate cow ministry in the state. In 2015, Rajasthan set up India's first ministry exclusively for cow protection.
According to BJP MLA Kishori Lal, the state government is already spending Rs 17 crores collected from temple offerings and Rs 8 crore collected from cow cess on the welfare of bovines.