Karnataka's cow adoption scheme hit by poor response

With limited financial sources and no returns from cattle sheds, the management is struggling to run private ghosalas

The Karnataka government’s ambitious cow adoption scheme ‘Punyakoti Dattu Yojane’ launched in July has seen a mere 200 of over 23,000 cows in 178 goshalas in Karnataka being adopted.

These include 11 adopted by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and 31 by Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services Minister Prabhu Chavan. From over 2,000 donors, the government has collected Rs 21.5 lakh.

More than 23,155 cows, a majority of which are old, ailing, yielding no milk and rescued by police or/and abandoned by farmers, are sheltered at 170 private and eight government-run goshalas.

A private goshala, on an average, requires Rs 300 a cow per day for fodder, medicines and labour. However, the government gives only Rs 17.5 a cow per day for fodder. Of the seven private goshala managements DH interacted with, only one has received additional funds from the government.

With limited financial sources and no returns from cattle sheds, the management is struggling to run them.

Bhagirathi Puranik, the managing trustee of Ananthkrishna Goshala in Karkala, Udupi district, said she has pledged her gold and property to ensure a continuous supply of fodder for the 110 cows there. “We have not received any financial assistance, not even the fodder money, from the state government since officials say we do not have the required 10 acres of land,” she said.

She needs Rs 33,000 a day for fodder, medicines and salaries of eight labourers at the cow shed. “The 22 milch cows yield milk worth Rs 3,500 a day. With a majority of cows old and ill, the revenue generated by the shed is not sufficient even for medicines or to give respectable burials for the cows as the corporation officials seek Rs 10,000 for disposing of the carcass,” she said. “We have not received enough enquiries for adoption from the public,” she said. She added that she had made several futile attempts to reach out to officials and elected representatives.

Sulochana N of Dhathri Godama, Kolar said only six of the 116 cows at the goshala have been adopted. “Since none of them are milch cows, we plan to use byproducts to generate funds. However, the initial investment is an issue,” she said.

2 per cent commission

One can adopt a cow for a year by paying Rs 11,000, with the state government making an equal contribution. However, private goshala management members allege that 5.5 per cent of the total amount is deducted by the payment gateway.

S Aswathi, commissioner, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences Department, said only 2 per cent commission is collected for the Punyakoti website maintenance. She said lack of awareness is one of the reasons for low adoption. “Soon, we plan to place QR codes at Grade A & B temples across Karnataka to collect donations and with the help of cine star Sudeep, we will create more awareness,” she said.

So far, the government has released Rs 35 crore for the construction and maintenance of goshalas. Construction of 12 government goshalas (each at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore) has been completed, of which eight are sheltering cows.

Congress leader Priyank Kharge charged that the state government introduced the Punyakoti Dattu Yojane despite the Finance Department saying it was not financially viable. “The scheme needs allocation of Rs 5,240 crore but the BJP government has allocated only Rs 50 crore,” he said and asked, “How many elected representatives from the BJP have adopted cows?”

Sources in the Department of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services informed DH that the state government allocates Rs 4 crore for providing fodder to cows at private goshalas which is released once in a year based on the availability of funds.