It would be a fair opportunity to break a lot of people’s illusion that ‘beef’ only includes buffalo and not cow or other ‘cattle’ breeds. Following this, a lot of questions would now arise about the current implication of beef ban, cattle rearing practices and of course, religious sentiments of people who worship cows as a holy animal. Before touching upon any sensitive issue, let’s bring our attention to the fact that From 1997 to 2012 the number of cows has increased from 103 million to 117 million. Over the same time, the number of male cattle has gone down from 96 million to 66 million. The rise in these numbers can be due to the increased demand of dairy or poultry industries, slaughterhouses for the domestic use of their meat as well as to export them. Cows are sacred for ‘Hindus’ and sadly, also for the country’s economy too. There have been old practices of keeping the animal safe and sheltered and well fed till the time they are lactating and selling them off to the slaughterhouses when they become futile and if unhealthy to be consumed, left free on the roads. Only after the current implications of the ban of illegal slaughterhouses, there’s been a little relaxation in the process. Now, where do the remaining cows go if not in the slaughterhouses? Not tricky enough to answer, a lot of them still get on-board to be cut down and the leftover is not be taken care of by any authorities.
From the very back of time, ‘gaushalas’ or ‘cow shelter’ are running in the race to save the holy animal from the brutality. These shelters don’t mean to run business for the animal’s productivity or any other commodities rather, they are there to provide the animal a good home, feed them for proper nourishment and keep the sacred animal in safe hands. If you’ll go on the internet and search for any gaushala related affairs, you’ll find that a lot of them are unable to make proper arrangements for the animal and hence a good number of animals end up dying due to lack of resources. Although a lot of efforts are being put up by NGOs and people who follow the rituals of feeding cows on daily basis, the basic needs of the animals are yet to be met. Keeping this scenario in mind, there’s been a rise in a new form of gaushala which is an ‘E-Gaushala’ which enable people to voluntarily and willing donate any form of help for the animal. You can now actually show your support for the animal by going online and making your donation in any form, either by some money or by donating any product for their care or by locating any nearest gaushala and visit on your own. This has made a lot of people engage in the ‘Gauseva’ from anywhere, anytime. This service has made a change for the social worker through the power of the internet.