Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, minister to inaugurate festival of cows next week

MUMBAI: Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and union minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Parshottam Rupala will inaugurate a “festival of cows” in Goregaon (East) on October 12. Aimed at promoting a cow-based economy, the festival from October 12 to 16 is being backed by the state government, Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog and Animal Welfare Board of India.
While the aayog works for conservation, protection and development of cows, the board is run under the department of animal husbandry and dairying. Chief ministers of Maharashtra, Assam, UP and Jharkhand, among several others, have been invited.
“The purpose of the festival is to create awareness about the economic benefits of rearing desi or indigenous cows. We want to tell the people how cow is important for our environment and how a cow-based economy (urine, cow dung, biogas, dairy products…) can make us financially strong,” said Sanjay Amaan, editor of Gau Bharat Bharati, a newspaper dedicated to the protection and preservation of cows, and the brain behind the festival, the first of its kind in India.