New Delhi: In January last year, prior to the Lok Sabha polls, images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi caressing and feeding cows, rather performing “gau seva”, at his Delhi residence on the occasion of Makar Sankranti went viral.
The photos, in circulation just ahead of the Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya’s new Ram Mandir, were full of symbolism, showcasing Modi’s softer side and love for the animal considered sacred by the Hindu community and worshipped as ‘Gau Mata’.
Again, in September last year, the PM shared on his X handle images of him kissing and cuddling ‘Deepjyoti, a newborn calf at his residence.
The PM’s display of affection for cows was in keeping with his government’s concern for cow welfare, for which it had formed the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) in 2019—an advisory body for conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny.
Set up under the Ministry of Animal Husbandry ahead of the general elections that year, the aayog or commission has existed without a chairperson and members for the last few years and its Rs 500 crore budgetary allocation “left untouched”.
“Appointments did not happen due to lack of government interest,” an official in the ministry told ThePrint.
The commission was last headed by Vallabhbhai Kathiria, former Rajkot MP and chairperson of Gujarat Gau Seva and Gauchar Vikas Board, who continued in the role till his term ended in February 2021.
The commission planned to provide cow shelters, or gaushalas, with assistance—either in the form of new technology or finance or credit facility—to rear cows and bring cow-based products to the market. Plans to ensure availability of at least one cow in each rural household were also drawn up, Kathiria had told ThePrint in 2019.
After Kathiria’s exit, it was expected that another chairperson would be appointed for the crucial Hindutva and cultural project to promote indigenous cow breeds and formulate policies for a cow-based economy in villages. The RKA is also part of Rashtriya Gokul Mission, which aims to improve the milk production and productivity of cattle and buffaloes.
“Officials of the animal husbandry department didn’t want another power centre and the Prime Minister’s Office too did not push for another appointment. It shows lack of focus. When Kathiria was appointed, he was not given an office and staff for many months, despite Rs 500 crore budgetary allocation to the commission,” the ministry official said.
“In many other (state) commissions too, the government doesn’t give time to post even their own people. They are busy with big issues, so chairperson and members are not appointed to gau aayogs year after year as priorities are different.”
On his part, Kathiria said that he was working for gau seva (cow welfare) as a principled BJP karyakarta (worker). “During my time in Gujarat and at the Centre, I worked for promotion of cows and the cow economy. When the party asked me to go back to Rajkot, I returned and am doing gau seva. I don’t know what happened after my term as chairperson got over,” he told ThePrint Wednesday.
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‘Bad publicity’
In the budget session of Parliament this February, while responding to a question, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Rajiv Ranjan Singh admitted that “the post of (Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog) chairman has remained vacant since February 2022”. He also informed that the ministry had not implemented any scheme related to the same and Rs 500 crore of funds allocated to the RKA had been left untouched.
The same answer had been given in 2023, too. When asked in Parliament, the Modi government had informed that “Kamdhenu Aayog is operating without designated chairman and RKA has not implemented any scheme since 2019”.
The ministry official mentioned earlier pointed out that “Rashtriya Gokul Mission and Animal Welfare Board already exist”.
“What was the vision behind creating a separate aayog for cows? It was an overlap of work, so the government did not pay attention to appointing a chairperson after the first one’s term ended and the aayog was attached to the Animal Welfare Board.”
A second ministry official conceded that the “government burnt its fingers after the commission attracted bad publicity in its first tenure when a ‘cow dung chip’ was announced by the former chairperson and a gau vigyan exam was proposed, which was later cancelled”.
During Kathiria’s time, the RKA had announced an ‘indigenous cow science’ examination. After widespread criticism, the animal husbandry department was forced to cancel it, saying the aayog had “no mandate” to conduct such an exam.
“These issues affect India’s image internationally,” the second official told ThePrint.
Cow welfare policies in BJP-ruled states
The government’s apathy towards the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog is in contrast to public statements of several BJP leaders in favour of cows.
Even Modi, in Varanasi in 2021 ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, had said: “Some people have created such a situation that talking about the cow and govardhan is some form of a gunah (crime).”
Taking a dig at the Samajwadi Party, he had said: “Cow (welfare) may be a crime for some people, but for us, the cow is mother, it is revered. Those who make fun of cows and buffaloes forget that livelihood of eight crore families depends on livestock.”
Several BJP-ruled states have instituted polices for cow welfare and have functional gau seva aayogs, while many others are lacking.
Ahead of the assembly elections last year, the Maharashtra government had declared the indigenous cow breed as ‘Rajya Mata Gaumata’ and provided subsidy for gaushalas. It was seen as a political strategy to consolidate Hindutva votes. In 2023, the state also appointed Shekhar Mundada as chairman of Maharashtra Goseva Aayog with minister rank.
Now, demands for similar ‘Rajya Mata’ status to cows are growing in several states, where gau seva aayogs are either non-existent, or just running on paper.
In Modi’s home state of Gujarat, the Gau Aayog is operating without a chairman and tasks are handled by animal husbandry department officials.
In Madhya Pradesh, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan constituted a cow cabinet in 2020 to promote the indigenous cow breed, but a gau seva aayog is yet to be reconstituted there, with the CM’s chair under Mohan Yadav since December 2023.
Similarly, the Bhajan Lal government in Rajasthan is yet to reconstitute the state’s Gau Sewa Aayog. Its last chairperson was Congress’s Megha Lal Jain.
One such former chairperson of a gau aayog told ThePrint: “The government tends to focus on those departments which are important for public welfare. Gau seva is only remembered before election or when workers pile on pressure.”
“The problem is that officers have no accountability regarding promotion of cow service, or cow economy or Hindutva. Only a political leader has to answer to the electorate.”
One state that has a functional gau aayog is Haryana with its chairman holding the post for five years.
Haryana Gau Seva Aayog chairman Sarvan Kumar Garg told ThePrint that wherever party workers are vigilant, they put pressure on officers to spend funds marked for cow development. But, where workers are not vigilant, funds don’t get utilised.
In Uttar Pradesh, CM Yogi Adityanath reconstituted the Gau Seva Aayog with Shyam Bihari Gupta as chairman, two vice-chairmen and three members in September 2024, soon after loss of parliamentary seats. Gupta is known for promoting organic farming, drip irrigation and organising gaming programmes in the state.
In Uttarakhand, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government named Rajendra Anthwal as Gau Seva Aayog chairman for the third time. He has held the post since 2017. “Our state has been working on the right path to protect indigenous cows, so I was appointed, and the aayog has 11 members who work with the animal husbandry department,” he said.
In Chhattisgarh, Visheshar Singh Patel was named chairperson of the gau aayog in December 2024, a year after the BJP wrested the state from the Congress. Patel is also known to work for cow protection.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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