Chandigarh, Mar 13 (PTI) Haryana's Urban Local Bodies Minister Vipul Goel on Thursday said 56,615 stray animals have been rehabilitated in 'gaushalas' from January 2024 till date.

Apart from this, 25,325 dogs have been sterilised in all the municipalities of the state from January 2024 till date and 41,152 monkeys have been sent to forest areas during the same period, said Goel.

The municipalities are running sterilisation and population control programme for stray dogs effectively, he said. He was responding to a Calling Attention Motion during the Budget Session of the Haryana Assembly.

Opposition Congress had raised the issue of "pitiable condition of helpless animals" and said the increasing number of stray and abandoned animals in the state has led to severe suffering due to lack of food, fodder and medical care.

The Congress also sought to draw attention to accidents involving stray animals, "which pose a threat to both human lives and animals".

The Congress alleged that the "absence" of adequate animal shelters and feeding arrangements has "worsened" the situation and urged the government to take urgent steps to ensure proper waste disposal, establish animal shelters and implement effective sterilisation programmes to control the stray animal population.

In his reply, Minister Goel said the government is committed to the protection and promotion of cows. After 2014, the Haryana government has increased the budget for cow protection, he said.

The minister said that before the BJP government was formed in 2014, the budget for cow protection used to be Rs 2 crore, which has been increased to Rs 425 crore by the present dispensation.

"Not only this, our government has increased the budget for fodder which was Rs 1.85 crore before 2014. This year, so far Rs 163 crore has been provided to cow shelters for fodder," he said.

He informed the Assembly that the state government has built two cow sanctuaries with a capacity to keep 5,000 animals in village Nain (Panipat district) and village Dhandhoor (Hisar district) at a cost of Rs eight crore.

So far, about 6,000 destitute animals have been rehabilitated in these sanctuaries. The Gau Seva Aayog has a provision of Rs 10 crore for setting up sanctuaries, he said.

Goel said that there are 683 cow shelters across the state. Out of these, 185 are in municipal areas, which have a total capacity to keep 1,73,501 cattle. Additionally, municipalities have been directed to build more gaushalas based on the requirement, he said.

The minister further said that to strengthen the gaushalas, the government is providing fodder subsidy to all the gaushalas through the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department, Haryana.

The government has announced fodder subsidy for stray animals under which about Rs 163 crore has been released to the 'gaushalas' of the state in the current financial year.

Under this scheme, Rs 10 per calf, Rs 20 per cow and Rs 25 per bull are given to 'gaushalas' for feeding the animals. Rs 294.55 crore has been released since 2020 till date, he said.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi suggested that every member of the Vidhan Sabha and additional chief secretary-level officers should adopt one 'gaushala' each. PTI SUN MNK MNK

Animal welfare funding expanded to strengthen gaushalas, support sterilisation programmes and provide fodder subsidies to shelters. The government implements a coordinated animal welfare programme: rehabilitation of stray animals into gaushalas, municipal-run sterilisation and population-control drives, relocation of monkeys to forest areas, and expansion of shelter capacity. Budgetary increases since 2014 fund cow protection and fodder; the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department issues a fodder subsidy to gaushalas under which per-animal feeding payments are made. Funds have been allocated for sanctuaries and disbursements to strengthen gaushalas, with directives for municipalities to build additional shelters and proposals for officials to adopt gaushalas.