Munda: Bovine service

Ranchi, Nov. 11: This can be called the mother of all commissions.

The Jharkhand cabinet today resolved to constitute a cow service commission (Jharkhand Go Seva Aayog) through an Ordinance which will take care of safety of the bovines and enrich cattle wealth in the state.

Considerable political significance is being attached to this decision because the BJP appears to be reverting to its Hindutva agenda and, if need be, is ready to contest the Assembly poll, scheduled for early next year, on a separate manifesto.

Most of the BJP?s recent political campaigns began with a prayer for Mother Cow. After the debacle in the Lok Sabha election, the BJP-led governments in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan have been concentrating on cow safety.

The Jharkhand cabinet banned cow slaughter in the state about three months ago and requested Governor Ved Prakash Marwah to promulgate an Ordinance. The Governor, however, refused to oblige, citing discrepancies in the proposed Ordinance. Marwah also advised the government to enact a law by passing a legislation in the Assembly.

The fate of the Ordinance still hangs in balance. But the government has decided to constitute the cow service commission through another Ordinance.

?Both the Ordinances will become functional soon. Adopting new rules through ordinances is not against the country?s Constitution. Cows form the backbone of our rural economy. We are committed to ensure safety to cows through legal means. Our decision has nothing to do with politics,? argued chief minister Arjun Munda.

The cabinet today also authorised Lucknow-based Birbal Sahni Institute to prepare project reports for setting up a fossil park in Rajmahal and an eco-tourism complex in Sahebganj.

Cabinet secretary Aditya Swaroop maintained that Sahebganj would be the base camp for the fossil park and eco-tourism complex. Sahebganj will also have a study centre.