Madhya Pradesh continues to grapple with a growing cattle menace on its highways and urban roads, with official data revealing that every third day, a person dies in a road accident involving cattle. In the last two years alone, 94 people have lost their lives and 133 have been injured in such accidents. A total of 237 police-recorded road accidents were caused due to cattle during this period, according to data presented by the state government in the Assembly on Friday.
The figures were shared in response to a question raised by Congress MLA Ajay Arjun Singh, who sought district-wise data on stray cattle, the number of accidents caused by them, loss to farmers' crops, and whether the government offers compensation for such damages.
Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister (Independent Charge) Lakhan Patel, in a written reply, informed the House that although district-wise information on stray cattle is available through the 20th Livestock Census, it is not possible to determine whether the accidents were caused specifically by stray cattle, as police records do not distinguish between domestic and stray animals.
The minister stated that the Home Department reported 237 cattle-related accidents in the past two years, resulting in 94 deaths and 133 injuries. He further clarified that the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department does not assess crop loss caused by stray cattle, nor does it maintain any compensation mechanism for affected farmers. "No provision exists for financial assistance or compensation to farmers for crop damage caused by stray cattle, and no such proposal is currently under consideration," Patel said in his reply.
The absence of a compensation framework has raised concerns, especially as incidents of stray cattle damaging agricultural fields continue to be widely reported across rural Madhya Pradesh. Legislators have demanded that the government recognise the problem as a serious agricultural and public-safety crisis.
At the same time, the government revealed that its cow-protection infrastructure is already stretched. Under the Mukhyamantri Gauseva Yojana, along with NGOs and local bodies, nearly 4.5 lakh cattle are currently housed in registered gaushalas across Madhya Pradesh, and the state government has allocated Rs 296.20 crore in the 2025-26 financial year towards their upkeep.
