Faridkot MC levies cow cess on new vehicles, cement bags

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 26

The Municipal Council (MC) of Faridkot has imposed a cow cess on various services for the protection of cattle in the city.

Residents have to give the cow cess on electricity, new vehicles and cement bags sold in the MC jurisdiction.

According to the new notification issued by the Principal Secretary, Local Bodies Department, the MC of Faridkot will hence forth levy a cow cess of Rs1,000 on the purchase of a four-wheeler, Rs200 on the purchase of a two-wheeler, Rs100 on an oil tanker, 2 paisa per unit on electricity consumption, Rs1,000 on booking of the AC hall of a marriage palace, Rs500 on booking of a non-AC hall and Rs1 per cement bag.

As per the notification, the civic body had proposed a resolution on July 29, 2015, under Section 7 of The Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act. After inviting public objections, the resolution was passed on January 22, 2016. After passing the resolution, it was sent to the Governor for his approval and this month, the Governor gave his consent and issued the notification.

Interestingly, the residents within the Faridkot municipality are already paying 2 per cent cow cess on electricity consumption. The cow cess has already been imposed on the purchasing a bottle of whiskey and beer in the state. However, civic bodies say the state government is not releasing their share of cow cess, collected from the sale of liquor.

Faridkot has four gaushalas, which houses over 5,000 stray cattle. But, residents of Faridkot and adjoining towns are still facing the menace of stray cattle.

With stray cattle roaming freely in the town, the district administration and some voluntary organisations have stepped up their drive to catch and send them to a gaushala at Golewala village.

“To arrange fodder for stray cattle, the district administration has provided 15 acres of agriculture land to the gaushala management to grow green fodder. But the district administration is facing shortage of funds to help these gaushalas. So, the civic body has taken a decision to impose a cow cess to generate funds,” said a senior official of the MC.

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