Facing protests for not ensuring the use of Gau Charan Bhoomi (land reserved for grazing cattle), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana has decided to provide Gau Charan land to Gaushalas (cow shelters) in the state. The decision came after a meeting held between chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Bhani Ram Mangla, Chairman of Haryana Gau Sewa Aayog (Cow Welfare Commission) on Tuesday.

Speaking to The Statesman, Mangla said, "The state government has decided to arrange 10 acres of land of Gau Charan for 500 cows. The land reserved for Gau Charan at each village would be leased out to the Gaushalas for growing fodder for cows. If any village does not have Gau Charan Bhoomi, then Panchayati land would be leased for this purpose. Besides, the government has also made a provision of Rs five lakh grant for Gaushalas."

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"Moreover, the committees would be constituted for better management of the Gaushalas in the state. The committees would comprise government officials, activists and members of non-government organisations," he said.

Mangla also revealed that people who are letting their cows stray, would now have to pay fine Rs 5,000 for this act.

Anybody finding responsible for this would be fined now onwards as the state government has decided to announce Haryana stray-cattle free state by August 15.

For this, it has been decided that each and every cow and bull in the state, whether it is raised by households, conserved in Gaushalas or roaming on the streets would be tagged by the government for this purpose, he added.

According to the official information, three districts of Haryana, including Nuh, Yamunanagar and Fatehabad have already been declared free from stray cattle.

Protesting against leasing-out of the Gau Charan lands in Haryana villages to private persons, a cow activist Sant Gopal Das has been sitting on a hunger strike for past one and half months.

He has been demanding that the Gau Charan lands in villages should be only used for fodders for cows and Gaushalas.

Das's protest was also supported by Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar. Groups of people protesting for pasture land for cows in villages, even reached national capital Delhi recently for the said cause.