DHARAMSHALA: The Himachal assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to declare cow as “rashtra mata (national mother).” BJP-ruled Uttarakhand had in September become the first state in the country to demand cow be declared “rashtra mata ( mother of nation ).”Interestingly, the resolution was tabled by a Congress MLA who was supported by the ruling BJP legislators. The HP assembly will forward the resolution to the Centre.Anirudh Singh, the Congress legislator from Kasumpti tabled the resolution , saying cow was not a political issue. “Cow is not bound to any caste, creed or religion and makes a huge contribution to humanity,” he said.“Uttrakhand has already passed such a resolution. People abandon cows when they stop giving milk so there is need for such a move,” Anirudh said and demanded a law to prevent incidents of cow vigilantism and mob lynching in the state. Himachal was shaken by a case of cow vigilantism when on October 16, 2015 a man from Uttar Pradesh was lynched by a mob in Sirmaur district.Animal husbandry minister Virender Kanwar said the Jai Ram Thakur government is setting up cow sanctuaries in the state. “Rs 1.52 crore has been sanctioned for a sanctuary in Sirmaur district. Other sanctuaries are proposed for Solan and Kangra districts” he added.The MLAs also urged the government to promote a local cow breed, which is being renamed as Gauri. The state government has already written to the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources in Karnal for approval of the new name.The legislators also sought a separate cow ministry in the state, giving example of Rajasthan that in 2015 set up India’s first ministry exclusively for cow protection. According to BJP MLA Kishori Lal, the state government is already spending Rs 17 crores collected from temple offerings and Rs 8 crore collected from cow cess on welfare of the cows.

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