Kerala Animal Husbandry Minister K Raju told media that reports from various states over the violence by gau rakshaks is forcing the government to rethink its plan of bringing high yielding milch cows from Gujarat.
The state had earlier announced that it would bring high yielding varieties of indigenous milch cows like Gir and Kankrej from Gujarat, in order to boost its milk production.
Initially, the state had planned to bring about 200 cows, but the minister now says that bringing them on the road could open up the possibility of gau rakshaks' engaging in violence and waylaying cattle-laden trucks.
The minister was speaking at a function, during the distribution of Dr Varghese Kurien award, in Kozhikode.
In last week of July, the minister had held discussions with his Gujarat counterpart Babubhai Bokria at Gandhinagar.
As per the reports, the Gujarat government had promised to arrange safe transport of the animals to Kerala.
Following this, K Raju had also held a meeting with Chairman, National Dairy Development Board, Dilip Rethu, and other officials.
“Though the minister (Gujarat) readily agreed to provide cows which costs up to Rs1.5 lakh per animal, he said that they can arrange safe transportation only till Gujarat border and we have to ensure security for the rest of the journey through Maharashtra and other states. How can we arrange it when mobs are engaging in violence on the issue of cow transportation across the country?“ the minister said, as per The Times ofIndia report.
However, K Raju added that the project has not been shelved yet.