Around three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gaumata Poshan Yojana (GPY) to provide financial assistance to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for the care of cattle and buffaloes, the Rajkot district administration has formed district and taluka level committees to implement the scheme in the district.
According to an official release, Rajkot district collector Arun Mahesh Babu presided over a meeting of the scheme’s district-level committee on Thursday. According to the release, the committee’s chairman is the district collector, one of its two members is the district development officer (DDO) of Rajkot, and its member-secretary is the deputy director of animal husbandry (DyDoAH) of Rajkot.
According to the release, the committee’s chairman will be the local mamlatdar, while the concerned taluka development officer (TDO) will be one of its two members and the taluka veterinary officer (VO) will be its member-secretary.
The committees will also oversee implementation of the Rs 50-crore cow progeny maintenance scheme which aims to relocate feral cows and their offspring to gaushalas or panjrapoles and provide such organisations with Rs30 per day per cattle maintenance.
The state government will provide Rs30 per cattle per day maintenance allowance to gaushalas and panjrapoles that care for cows and buffaloes and their offspring under Rs 490-crore GMY. The scheme will be available to guashalas and panjrapoles registered as public trusts, according to the release, with a maximum annual allowance of Rs 3,000 per animal.
The meeting on Thursday was attended by Rajkot DDO Dev Choudhary, Rajkot DyDoAH KU Khanpara, and AM Dadhaniya, deputy director of the Intensive Cattle Development Programme, according to the release.