CATTLE WISE

INDIA NEEDS TO LOOK BEYOND GAUSHALAS IF IT WANTS TO CHECK THE NUMBER OF STRAY CATTLE

- D K SADANA

Cows and buffaloes roaming the streets and eating from garbage bins are a common sight in almost every part of India. Even though there have been multiple government interventions, the problem persists. Most recently, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation, one of the four municipal bodies in the national capital, had announced an ambitious plan to implant chips in cattle with owners’ information. Using the chip, authorities plan to track down erring cattle owners and fine them ₹25,000 every time their cattle is found abandoned.

The abandonment of cattle is unfortunate as they are quite an important resource, contributing to nutritional security and strengthening local livelihood. India has over 5 million stray cattle, as per the 20th Livestock Census released by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in January 2020 (see ‘Without a home,’ p54). There are several reasons for the high share of stray cattle in the country: from neglect of the indigenous populations to excessive focus on crossbreeding in the past few decades. Increased mechanisation and the national ban on cow slaughter have further added to the problem.

In the common parlance, stray cattle include cows, bulls or calves that are abandoned because they are unproductive. They also include low-yield cows, mostly owned by city-dwellers, that are set free to roam about in the open during the daytime. While stray cattle are a traffic nuisance in cities, they also raid crops in villages.

Given the complexity of the problem, simply directing stray cattle towards gaushalas (cow shelters) is not going to be sufficient. This is clear as the Centre has been constantly increasing the number of and support to