98-year-old government cowshed: In crisis due to ownership dispute

The cows in the gaushalas run under the National Cooperative Development Board are emaciated without proper care, nutritious food and treatment. Even though it has been 13 years since the cowshed was handed over to the cooperative board, there has not been much improvement. Before that, this gaushala was operated under the district administration office. Lately, Gaushala municipality is trying to bring the cow cow under its control.

Although there is enough physical infrastructure and human resources for cow breeding, milk production and income have not been achieved according to the investment. Due to the lack of income according to the investment in employees, shepherds, grass cutting workers, cow feed, medicinal treatment, grass cultivation, the burden of debt is increasing every year. The gaushala has different sheds for local and advanced cows . Although there are 116 cows including cows and calves in the traditional barn, milk production has not been possible.

10 cows out of 73 cows with 10 calves are giving milk in the modern cowshed, said Bir Bahadur Chaudhary, acting head of the cowshed. "Daily milk is being produced from 40 to 60 liters now," he said. Locals are buying milk by paying cash in the office in the morning and evening. He said that the office is selling milk at 60 rupees per liter.

Gaushala owns 148 bigha of cultivated land . Out of that 87 bighas 2 kathas are leased. 20 bighas are reserved for grass, 9 bighas are ponds and 10 bighas are gardens. An office complex is spread over an area of ​​10 bighas and an old shed is spread over 2 bighas. Cattle market has been started in 2 bighas of the cowshed. Cowshala's office premises, market and leased land have also been encroached upon.

Although there is enough land, there is a lack of food for cows because grass and other crops cannot be planted systematically. Locals complain that the future of the historic Gaushala is in jeopardy when the political party tries to fulfill its interests by building a worker recruitment center in Gaushala. Ramchandra Singh Kushwaha, a member of the Nigaul Cow Cowshala Support Committee, says that the cowshed is in crisis due to lack of proper management.

"Gaushala has become a problem due to the lack of competent managers and the National Cooperative Board being responsible," he said. He said that the improvement of the cow shed is not possible unless there is an arrangement for the officials who are responsible for maintenance to stay in the office.

Instead of managing the cowshed, Kushwaha has alleged that the cowshed is being exploited by political parties and people's representatives to get benefits from land grabbing, pond and garden contracts, and animal market contracts by hiring employees who are favorable to them . The leading leaders here have distributed the cultivable 87 bigha land of Gaushala to the workers they like. Land encroachment has also been encroached upon by building a concrete house under the protection of the political party on the land of the cow farm in the market area.

National animal for cow protection V.No. In 1983 (year 1926), the then provincial government of Bharat Vihar, Darbhanga Maharaj, gifted a cow shed to Nepal. At that time, Darbhanga Maharaj purchased 200 bigha of land and managed it himself by keeping 1500 milch cows and establishing the Nigaul cow farm.

When it was not possible to operate in that way, when it was handed over to Nepal, the then Ward Hakim was entrusted with the management . After 2047, Chief District Officer was given the responsibility of management through Achaladhish. On 19th May 2067, the Government of Nepal Council of Ministers decided to hand over the responsibility of operation, management and development to the National Cooperative Development Board after the government-owned cowsheds of Nepal started to become unstable.

After the board got the responsibility of conservation, the head of the cow farm has been operating by appointing one sixth-level official, one fifth-level animal technician, one accountant, and one buyer for the administration. When appointing employees, the Minister of Agriculture appoints and sends his party close, so the head of the office who comes here has not been able to do effective work . Veer Bahadur Chowdhury, animal technician said that when the head of the office resigned because he could not cope with the problem and the pressure of the locals, he had to run the cowshed as the deputy head.

Locals say that political appointees do not have experience in working, they do not get help in solving the problem of gaushalas, local leaders of appointing parties try to take advantage, the head of the office is not able to work when the opposition threatens them . At present, 3 office assistants, 7 shepherds, 1 driver and 1 sweeper are appointed on contract in Gaushala.

As the cow maintenance and farming work cannot be done by the contract employees, 10/15 people are working on daily wages . Kushwaha said that advanced breed cattle rearing, feed management and office operations could not be managed due to lack of skilled staff. In the absence of income, they are struggling to pay the salaries of the employees. Chief Choudhary said that due to the fact that the shepherds who take care of the milch cows and those who bring grass are not paid on time, the cows die due to lack of food during the workers' agitation.

Gaushala has been contracting 3 fish ponds in Navrajpur for the past three years at an annual rate of 755,000 . From the 87 bigha land contract, the annual rent of 40,000 per bigha has been set, while the contract for mango and litchi gardens has been increased to 8,81,500 rupees. 5 modern sheds for keeping 20/20 cows, one shed for keeping 100 cows, 2 barns for sawdust, one milk collection center, one milk house and 230 mango plants with office building in Navrajpur of Gaushala in 10 bigha area. They are in the state of fruiting . Similarly, a cowshed and 16 shutters have been rented out in the Gaushala market for keeping 30 cows. Gaushala has yet to collect 56 lakh 8 thousand rupees for land, pond, garden rent, and 28 lakh 67 thousand will have to be repaid in the market.

The employees say that there is a problem in feeding the cows with nutritious food and fodder due to the lack of credit. Although there is an agreement that the cowshed should get 25 percent of the amount from the contract for wearing pashuhat, the municipality has been reluctant to give the amount. Kushwaha said that while initiatives should be taken to prevent encroachment, the encroachers are being protected from the political level. Chowdhury said that it has been years since Gaushala Municipality has not received a certain percentage of the income from the cattle huts.

Kuntikumari Pandey, officer of the National Cooperative Board, said that cowsheds have become problematic because they are not a priority of the government. She said that preparations are being made to bring Gausha under the provincial government and develop it as a research center. But Chairman of Gaushala Municipality-11 and city spokesman Rampreet Mahato said that initiatives are being taken to bring cow gaushalas under the local level from the cooperative board and to solve other problems.