New Delhi: Spread over 220 hectares and housing thousands of bovines, Rajasthan will soon have its first cow sanctuary in Bikaner district.
The state government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a private trust to this effect during Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s visit to Bikaner on Friday.
“This will be the first cow sanctuary in Rajasthan and will be situated in Bikaner’s Napasar. The objective is to dedicate the entire area for cows, much on the lines of a wildlife sanctuary. The signing of the MoU was done on Friday and we are looking to start the facility at the earliest,” Gopalan minister Otaram Dewasi told Indian Express. He added the sanctuary will be managed by a private trust.
The facility will have hospitals and Sewan grass as fodder for the animals. Plans are in order to develop it into a tourist place. The cows to be kept at the sanctuary would primarily be the animals which are abandoned and have stopped producing milk. The ones rescued from smugglers will also find a home in the sanctuary.
The state already has a ministry dedicated to the welfare of cows.
In June, the Vasundhara Raje government introduced a 20% surcharge on liquor, the proceeds of which will be used for protection of cows in the state.
The State government notified that surcharge at the rate of 20% shall be levied and collected on the amount of tax or any sum in lieu of tax payable on the sale of foreign liquor, Indian made foreign liquor, country liquor and beer sold by dealers registered under the provisions of the Rajasthan Value Added Tax Act, 2003, with effect from July 23, 2018, an official order read.
The surcharge imposed on liquor is meant for cow protection, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance and Taxation) Mukesh Kumar Sharma said.
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