Is Gomata wants cess for sustain ? Haryana Government seeking to impose 5% ‘cow cess’ on cinema tickets

Chandigarh, July 08:  A proposal has been sent to the Haryana government seeking to impose a 5 percent ‘cow cess’ on cinema tickets in the state in addition to the 20 percent entertainment tax that is already being levied.

The proposal was sent by the Haryana Gau Sewa Ayog with the aim of creating a separate corpus for the welfare of cows, according to a report in The Times of India.

The commission also wants to levy Re 1 on each bag of wheat, paddy and other crops bought from the state’s mandis. A senior officer told TOI that the mandi proposal alone could fetch Rs 100 crore annually .

If all the proposals of Haryana’s cow commission are accepted, it could well emerge to be more powerful than a department headed by a cabinet rank minister in the state!

All this is apart from a 300 strong police taskforce under an IPS officer that the government recently created to protect cows.

The commission itself has two dozen members, including the state DGP and eight senior IAS officers. The government has already approved Rs 20 crore annually to develop `cow sanctuaries’ or modern gaushalas.

Justifying his tax proposals, commission chairman, Baani Ram Mangla, an old RSS hand, said: “We want a well-stocked veterinary hospital with doctors and medicines in every gaushala.

We have planned bio-gas and solar energy plants in the shelters as well. We will be able to make concrete plans once the proposals are implemented.“

OSD to Khattar, Amit Arya, said the government would consider the commission’s suggestions.