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Explain the meaning, history and objectives of Gaushala, Pinjarapole and Gosadan.

 Gaushala

Gaushala, a Sanskrit word (“Gau” means cow and “Shala” means a shelter place), means the abode or sanctuary for cows, calves and oxen. Apart from providing shelter, the Gaushala also rescues the animals destined for illegal slaughter (Fig. 4.1). As per Rajastan Goushala Act (1960), Gaushala means a charitable institution established for the purpose of keeping, breeding, rearing and maintaining cattle or for the purpose of reception, protection and treatment of infirm, aged or diseased cattle and includes a Pinjarapole or a Gosadan where such cattle are kept.

Panjrapole or Pinjrapole

Panjrapole is a Gujarati word in its origin and it means a place where old infirm or uncared animals are housed and taken care of by way of charity.

Gosadans

The Cattle Preservation and Development Committee (1947) proposed the establishment of Gosadans to house uneconomic cattle and to die a natural death. The National Commission on Cattle (Rashtriya Govansh Ayog) (2002) recommended having one Gosadan in each village accommodating all stray and surplus cows (during non lactation period) of the community with the following functions:

· Breeding centre to develop good breeds of cows and bullocks suiting to local conditions.

· Manufacturing - Nadep compost, vermi compost and organic pesticides.

· Now many state governments are encouraging establishment of Gosadans by NGOs.

Example: As required under Section 10 of Delhi Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, (1994) Govt. of NCT of Delhi through NGOs established Gosadans for the reception, maintenance and care of agricultural cattle (cows of all ages, calves of cows of all ages, bulls & bullocks).

Objectives of Gaushalas

The general objectives of Gaushalas are:

a) To preserve the Indian cow and progeny and to breed and upgrade them for supplying plenty of unadulterated milk & milk products to the people and distribute the best female calves to the villagers.

b) Prepare best pedigree Indian bulls and supply to villagers for breeding and upgrading village cows.

c) Production of best healthy bullocks for draught works and preserves male calves for distribution to agriculturists.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF GAUSHALAS AND PINJRAPOLES

Ancient and Pre-Independence Period

The Gaushala movement is synonymous with the protection of cows and cattle wealth. Being practiced for the last five thousand years or so, its origin can be traced in the Vedic period when social customs and rules laid great emphasis on protection, preservation and development of cows for home, and oxen for agriculture fields. ‘Rigveda’ refers to cow as ‘Aghnya’- or one which must never be killed. ‘Yajurveda’ states- ‘Go matra Na Vidyate’ – which means that there is no parallel to the cow in this world. ‘Atharva Veda’ considers cow as the ‘house of prosperity’- ‘Dhenu Sadanam Rayinam’ (Kothari and Mishra, 2013).

Gaushalas During Pre-Independence Period

After the establishment of the first Gaushala in Rewari, between 1880 and 1893, hundreds of Gaushalas were established.. The Panjrapole (Bombay Panjrapole) was founded by two businessmen, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Amichand Shah, in 1834, initially to look after stray dogs and pigs.

Even during medieval periods, cow and its progeny were protected by the rulers. During Mughal period, right from Humayun to Shahjahan and Shah Alam there was complete ban on the slaughter of cow. For the British, who neither cared for the traditional rural economy and rural crafts nor bothered for the sentiments of people or cultural heritage of this subcontinent, cow was just cattle, a good source of meat. After independence, with the impact of the western world and growth of cities and towns, the entire socio-cultural and socio-economic patterns of life got revolutionized solely on the basis of materialistic considerations. The picture started taking a U-turn in the Sixties, when the ‘Green revolution’ introduced mechanical and chemical inputs to the agricultural activities. This led to a situation when the only purpose of cow was milk. There also, buffaloes and exotic cattle breeds pushed it back on the pretext of yield and fat percentage. Now, the cow progeny has become a burden on the farmer.

It was in 1946 that the Animal Husbandry Wing of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) recognized the potentiality of the valuable work done by Gaushalas and Panjrapoles and recommended a plan to encourage them to be the fountain-heads of milk and draught power in the country. They formulated a plan to constitute State-wise Federations of Gaushalas and Panjrapoles.

Post-Independence Era

In 1947 the Government of India appointed a ‘Cattle Preservation and Development Committee’ under the chairmanship of Sardar Datar Singh, Vice President of the then Imperial Council of Agricultural Research (now ICAR). Along with other issues, the Committee also studied the role of Gaushalas, Cattle Protection Societies and Salvage Centres for preserving cattle wealth and for promoting their development.

The Committee recommended establishment of ‘Gosadans’ where ‘uneconomic’ cattle could be housed and allowed to die a natural death. In pursuance of this recommendation a scheme for establishment of 160 Gosadans in the country was included in the First Five Year Plan (1951-56). One Gosadan was designed to house 2000 cattle on a block of about 4000 acres. However, the Gosadan scheme could not succeed because of the following reasons:

· Lack of funds with the State Governments for meeting their share of expenditure

· Non-availability of suitable land

· Absence of legislative measures for the compulsory removal of unproductive cattle from owner’s premises

· Transport difficulties

Although the Gosadans established by the Government could not prove to be successful, the Gaushalas and Pinjrapoles managed by the community were still running.

History of Panjrapole: The Panjrapole was founded by two businessmen, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Amichand Shah, in 1834, initially to look after stray dogs and pigs. They were helped by another Parsi philanthropist Cowasjee Patel. The shelter, currently being run by a Parsi trust, has expanded to include branches in Kalyan, Chembur and Bhiwandi, and one in Bhilad, Gujarat.

The sick animals are given food, treatment and looked after till they die. What started as a shelter to protect the strays has today acquired a religious significance. The dominance of cows here, coupled with a plenty of temples in the vicinity, has lent a sacred air to this shelter. Every amavasya (new moon), people descend in huge numbers to feed the cows and birds.

Presence of cows here is more incidental than intended. The Panjrapole, is not a typical Gaushala (cow shelter). The cows were brought in to feed milk to strays. Over time, the number of cows increased. Today, out of the 1,800 animals in all seven branches, 1,300 are cows. The Bhuleshwar shelter alone yields 800 to 1,000 litres of milk daily, which is not sold to dairies but to local residents. The money is used for the shelter’s upkeep. Each cow here is ear-tagged and they all have names. A housing complex with 200 shops and 450 tenants was also built in the area, the revenue from which was intended for upkeep of the animals. Today the rent is not sufficient to run the Panjrapole. But with generous donations and the goodwill of pious locals, the Panjrapole continues to stand tall, even after a century.

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