Shouldn't think of 'expenses' when taking care of cows: BJP's Murlidhar Patidar

Following his suggestion that the Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders should be mandated to rear at least one cow each, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Murlidhar Patidar on Monday said that to rear a cow, one needs to have serving nature than to think about 'expenses'.

"Cow gives more than what we spend on them. A cow needs almost 25 kilo fodder per day and not more than that. To rear a cow one needs to be eager to serve them and not think about expenses. People should be motivated and encouraged to rear at least one cow," Patidar said.

He also said that this move will also end old practice where farmers let loose their cows post-harvest to allow them to graze.

The cow may be considered a sacred animal, however, the vast number of stray cows has become a problem in Madhya Pradesh and as MLAs were discussing solutions to the problem in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, when Patidar came up with this off-beat suggestion to make a law to force every BPL card holder to rear at least one cow.

"Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders get ration and other government facilities. Can't we make a law to force every BPL card holder to rear at least one cow? If they don't keep cows, they will not get BPL facilities," Patidar came as members of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, while discussing a 'non-government resolution', admitted that stray cows were raiding agricultural land and proving to be a menace to farmers.

While the debate occasionally veered towards cow protection and the supremacy of cow milk, gaumutra (urine) and gobar (dung), the focus was largely on the ill-effects of 'era' and the ways in which the problem of stray cows could be tackled.

They also admitted that monetary and commercial considerations, besides lack of fodder and encroachment on grazing land, were the main reasons why owners were abandoning their cows.