Activist goes on indefinite hunger strike, seeks raising of cow sheds
Amritsar, July 13
A local activist held a protest against the authorities concerned for not taking care of stray cows and demanded to provide cow shelters and other infrastructure here on Saturday.
Rohan Mehra, national president of the Gau Raksha Maha Sang, sat on a hunger strike in front of Deen Dayal Market at Bhandari Bridge for an indefinite period over these demands. Rohan Mehra said his organisation has submitted memorandums and demand letters to various department authorities to make efforts for the welfare of cows. But there is no progress in this regard.
“The Punjab Government introduced gau cess in 2016 and promised to build 500 cow sheds in different districts. The government started collecting cow cess, but failed to build 500 cow sheds. The Punjab Government charged people Rs 100 on oil tankers, Rs 10 on a bottle of liquor, Rs 5 on a bottle of country made liquor, Re 1 on a bag of cement, two paisa per unit on electricity bills, Rs 1,000 on AC marriage palace, Rs 500 on non-AC marriage palace, Rs 1,000 on buying a car, and Rs 200 on buying a two-wheeler. The cow cess is not being deposited by some departments to the government and the collected amount is not being spent on the construction of cow sheds,” said Mehra.
In the absence of the required infrastructure, a large number of cows can be seen roaming the roads struggling with heat, hunger and thirst in adverse weather conditions. “Accidents happen every day, in which there is loss of cattle and lives of commuters. Around 10,000 accidents are reported every year on the road. On July 26, a boy was killed in an accident with a cow in front of Gol Bagh in Amritsar. Who will compensate his family? said Mehra.
He demanded from the government to release all cow cess accumulated since 2016 for the construction of new cow sheds. Appropriate action should be taken against those departments which have not submitted the cow cess to the Punjab Government. An inquiry committee should be formed in Punjab from 2016 on the collection of cess. All the cows roaming the streets of Amritsar should be brought to cow sheds.
