More than two years after the Haryana government decided to issue identity cards to “genuine gau rakshaks” to weed out the criminal elements among them, the project still hangs a fire.
‘Anti social elements’
The move had come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had then said that many of the gau rakshaks were antisocial elements and acting as protectors of cows as a cover to their misdeeds.
gau Sewa Aayog chairman Bhani Ram Mangla told The Hindu he had written to the Haryana Police for verification of around 300 gau rakshaks but the process was delayed due to several reasons.
“After we requested the verification, the police demanded a verification fee of ₹500. Following this, I wrote to DGP, Haryana, seeking to waive-off the charges. Later, I held a meeting with gau rakshaks in Rohtak and cautioned them to not to take the law in their own hands. A task force was also set up in between for cow protection. It led to sharp decrease in cases of altercations between gau rakshaks and cow-smugglers in Haryana, so we did not pursue the matter further with the police,” said Mr. Mangla.
He, however, added that he would again take up the matter with the police to get the verification done.
When contacted, DGP Haryana, B.S. Sandhu, said he was unaware of the current status of the verification process since it was the job of the CID wing.
However, CID, IGP, Anil Rao denied that his department had anything to do with the verification.
Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union, general-secretary, Kuldeep Jhangu, who is an active gau rakshak, said that none of the gau rakshaks in this region were issued the identity cards.
“It was a good move to weed out the criminal elements acting as gau rakshaks. But the plan never took off. It would have also lent more credibility to people working genuinely for the cows and reduced cases of lynchings,” said Mr. Jhangu.
