Cow Protection Centre remains on paper

M Srinivasa Murthy

Chittoor: The Cow Protection Centre that was to come up on 870 acres of land at Palamaneru in the district for protecting extinct cattle and producing dairy products for use in Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala remains on paper even after four years.

The centre was supposed to come up as a joint venture of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) and the Sri Venkateshwara Veterinary University. In 2009, Sri Venkateshwara University had even donated 870 acres of land at Palamaneru for the establishment of the centre. It was also proposed to develop the centre as a research centre for breeding and developing the bovine population.

A foundation laying ceremony was also organized in 2009 with great fanfare in which the Union Minister Subhodh Kant Sahay, State Minister Raghuveera Reddy and TTD chairman Adikeshavulu Naidu also participated. A bhoomi puja was also performed on the occasion. It was decided to construct the Cow Protection Centre with all the modern facilities for carrying out research studies on the bovine population. At present, nearly 20 types of cattle are fast becoming extinct.

In Chittoor, there is not enough fodder to feed all the cows and they were starving to death. Even the carcasses of these animals could be seen at various places. If the research centre comes into being, it would not only benefit the cattle but also provide employment opportunities to large number of people in Palamaner who were migrating to other places for jobs.

The TTD was spending several crores of rupees for the temple rituals and if this centre comes into being, the financial burden of the TTD would be reduced to a large extent. However, there is a big question mark over its establishment and the blame has been squarely put at the door step of the Veternary University with officials not taking much interest.

There were complaints that even the TTD officials were not taking much interest in completing this project and a Legislative Assembly Privileges Committee headed by Krishna Reddy that examined the project expressed its displeasure with the officials concerned over the delay in starting the works. Krishna Reddy lashed out at the officials for not making any progress relating to the setting up of the Centre during the last four years.

However, speaking to The Hans India, Sri Venkateshwara University Vice-Chancellor Prabhakar Rao said that their responsibility ends with the allotment of land for the Cow Protection Centre and it was up to the TTD to take steps and complete the remaining works.