MANDLESHWAR: Story of Mandleshwar situated Pandit Mandan Mishra Gaushala is a case in point amid the tall claims of the state government about spending a huge sum on the protection and care of the cow
Despite spending Rs 28 lakh on the construction of gaushala at Ladvi village under Nawalpura gram panchayat near Mandleshwar town of Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh, cows, and calf are starving for fodder. Worse, a cow has even died due to starvation.
The gaushala was in news over its inauguration as it was not only inaugurated once but twice within a span of 24-hour.
First, it was inaugurated by the ex-cabinet minister and Mandleshwar MLA Dr Vijayalakshmi Sadho and later, on the very next day it was inaugurated by Khargone MP Gajendra Singh Patel. Not just this, MP Patel and others also had lunch at the gaushala.
Immediately after the inauguration, gaushala was handed over to the Sri Ganesh Self-Help Group of Navalpura. Thereafter no one bothered either about the wellbeing of the cows or about the facilities here.
As news about the death of cow spread in the town, MLA Dr Sadhoo rushed to the gaushala and took stock of the situation prevailing there.
At present, the gaushala houses 30 cows including the injured one. There is no fodder and water available at gaushala for the last two-three days even after the state government has ordered payment of Rs 20 per day for every cow at gaushala. The cowshed is getting no assistance from the government.
The villagers informed that there is neither fodder for cow nor any attention is paid. The cow here is starving for 3 to 4 days. The cowshed doesn’t even has provision for drinking water, rued a local.
CEO rebuked for mismanagement
Even after some media houses reported about the death of a cow at Gaushala on Tuesday, nobody paid heed to the news or to check about the wellbeing of the other cows. The concerned officials’ apathy was equally conspicuous. When ex- minister and MLA Dr Sadho was informed about the death of the cow by some media persons, he reached the spot and expressed her concern over mismanagement prevailing at the cowshed. She immediately called up district collector. After inspecting the Gaushala, she called SDM Milind Dhoke over the phone and asked him to reach the Gaushala, but the district CEO Meena Jha reached Gaushala as SDM Dhoke was in Khargone at that time. The ex-CEO was also strongly rebuked for mismanagement at the cowshed. After that, the CEO talked about providing adequate fodder and power facilities in the cowshed by Wednesday. At the same time, Mandleshwar municipal council immediately sent a water tanker and arranged water for the cows there. Apart from this, the veterinarian was also given necessary guidelines regarding the health of the cow. He was told to conduct the post-mortem of the dead cow and provide a report.
Women's self-help group shares woes
Pandit Mandan Mishra Gaushala is being run and maintained by the Shree Ganesh Self Help Group run by women. The women of self-help groups also complained to the former minister about the negligence being done by the administrative officials towards Gaushala. In response to which the former minister also redressed the complaints of self-help groups.
