RAIPUR: It would be for the first time that amid so much hue and cry on cow-catching politics in the country, Congress government in Chhattisgarh is softly moving ahead in its implementation of "cow creche" in all its villages by introducing 'Gowthan' (cow shelters) which will serve as one stop centre for cows in distress.Right from grazing, vaccination, breed improvement to converting their waste as fertilizer in farm soil, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel 's ambitious pilot project Narwa (rivulet)-Garuwa (livestock)-Ghurwa (domestic dump) Badi (farming) (NGGB) aims to bring prosperity to cows in Chhattisgarh by converting them from being liabilities to necessity.Shaping it up scientifically to strengthen the eco-system for farmers as well, the fodder left in fields wouldn't be needed to be burnt anymore, in stead it will be brought to Gowthan, fed to cows, the cow dung would be converted into vermicompost method and returned to farmers as fertilizers. This is subsequently a step toward promoting organic farming for healthy lifestyle.CM Baghel would soon send the guidelines and directive principles to all district for immediate implementation of the programme.Speaking to TOI, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said, "The whole NGGB program is a smart integration of existing state and central programmes aiming to change economic model of the villages and we will ensure that there should be no dearth of funding for the same. In the first year we are targelling 15% gram panchayats and rest will be covered next year in second phase. Nearly 80% population of Chhattisgarh lives in villages and we are confident that the project will change the economy of rural Chhattisgarh. If villages get rich, I am sure urban economy will get benefited automatically."Cattle menace is an alarming problem in state and villages having huge livestock find it difficult to manage it and they leave it out in open leading to lot of nuisance in traffic.Pradeep Sharma, member of NGGB committee and advisor to CM said, "Economics of Chhattisgarh is directly is directly related to organic manure going back to field. When each acre of land prodices 20 quintals of rice, an equal amount of fodder is also produced which is often burnt away leading to environmental hazards. Under the NGGB project, this fodder would be collected at cow shelter through under MNRGA, which would serve as day-care centre for cows of farmers and villagers. Once cows feed on this fodder, their excreta will be converted as active carbon which enriches soil and is the main source for cereals, pulses and other crops."Sharma added that the programme is a full-fledged prosperity of cows, villagers, farmers and consumers. This cow creche will work towards improving the breed of cows by cross-breed of milk producing and local cows which will improve quality and quantity of milk as well as manure.Spread across three or more acres of land as per the population of cows, the the creche would also have one section for rural industry sector to be operated by gobar gas and solar powered tube wells, Sharma said.The caretakers at creche would ensure the cows are disease-free with regular vaccinations. 95% of gram sabha have already passed a resolution as part of Gram Sabha Panchayat Development plan saying that they need the implementation of NGGB at the earliest.Chhattisgarh would soon witness cows spending leisure hours at upcoming Gowthan at all villages and villagers are enthusiastic about the initiative with hope that the burden of maintaining livestock would soon convert into better quality crops.

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