Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], January 28 : Presiding over a meeting of Gau Seva Aayog, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu directed the Animal Husbandry Department to make proper arrangements for providing shelter to stray cattle, informed a government press release on Saturday.
During the meeting, CM Sukhu informed about the Mukhyamantri Seva Helpline No- 1100, on which people can complain about their grievances. He also directed the officers for developing a 'mobile app' through which people could upload photographs of stray cattle.
"After receiving the complaint, the information will be shared with the Senior Veterinary Officer, Veterinary Officer, and Pharmacist of the concerned block and it will be their responsibility, to take these deserted animals to Gau Sadans," CM Sukhu said.
He also stressed the need to sensitize the general public about the helpline and its role in curbing the menace of stray cattle.
Citing the 20th Animal Census, the Chief Minister said that, the number of stray animals in the state was 36,311, out of which 20,203 deserted cattle have been provided shelter in various Gau Sadans and still 9117 such animals are roaming freely on the roads creating a threat to the commuters.
"In order to provide shelter to these animals, there is a need to strengthen the infrastructure of the existing Gaushalas. Officials of the Animal Husbandry department were directed to identify the appropriate land for grazing and water bodies with the help of the forest department, besides constructing night shelters for the animals with sufficient staff to look after them," he said.
He has also directed the officers of the department to come up with a blueprint regarding the strengthening of infrastructure for such deserted cattle within 10 days.
"The Government is working with a resolve to provide shelter to these cattle and in order to facilitate farmers and reduce the cases of road accidents due to stray cattle, the government is strictly dealing with this problem and the paucity of funds would not be a hurdle," he added.
The Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister, Chander Kumar stressed taking practical steps and completing the assignment within the given time frame.
"The departmental officers should seriously work to solve the problem of stray animals and also take the help of NGOs in addressing the menace," he said.
Other than them, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister, Anirudh Singh, Principal Advisor (IT and Innovation) Gokul Butail, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Bharat Khera, Secretary Animal Husbandry Ajay Sharma, Secretary IT Abhishek Jain, OSD to Chief Minister Gopal Sharma, Principal Private Secretary to Chief Minister Vivek Bhatia and other senior officers were also present during the meeting.