Rajasthan is the only state with a dedicated cow ministry.
Highlights
- For 'Gau Grass Fund', government plans Rs 1 to Rs 3 tax on its employees
- Another 5% tax on corporates and 5% on religious trusts also proposed
- Rajasthan is the only state with a dedicated cow ministry
The Rajasthan government is planning a cow welfare fund. But the step towards bovine welfare has a twist. The government wants its employees to shell out money, which can amount to upto Rs 3 a day, for the "Gau Grass Fund".
This additional cess from salaries -- along with an existing one on religious trusts and Corporate Social Responsibility - is expected to add up to a whopping Rs 500 crore.
Rajasthan is the only state with a dedicated cow ministry. But the government says it needs another Rs 200 crore to care for its 5 lakh-plus cattle and this is one way to raise money.
A cabinet sub-committee chaired by Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria has also proposed that for the cow welfare fund, a flat 5% tax be collected from corporates from their CSR funds and another 5% from religious trusts that have more than an annual turnover of Rs 5 crore a year.
Besides, 10% of the mandi (market) tax is going for cow welfare. Land registries also contribute to the cow ministry.
"The government alone cannot protect cows," said Mr Kataria. "Society also has to step in."
Government employees, he said, have been divided into three brackets in terms of their ranks, who will be paying Rs 1, 2, and 3 a month. "We want the total to add up to Rs 500 crore for cows," he added.
The government's track record in caring for cows, however, has been questioned of late after more than 1,000 cows died in a shelter just 35 km from state capital Jaipur in August.
It led to a huge political row, with the opposition Congress alleging the BJP, which had asked for votes in the name of the cow, was unable to protect the animal.
"The cow ministry gets an 11% share of all land registrations in the state," said state Congress spokesperson Pratap Singh Kachariya. "It is not about funds but votes. They want to give a message that they care for cows, but they failed to save the cows in Hingonia."
Most government employees unions said they were not consulted before the decision was taken.
"We are not against serving cows," said Dhiraj Gupta, a former president of the Union. The problem, he said, was that fodder and water meant for the cows don't reach them. "The government needs to sort out the system and the management of the cow shelters first," he added.