Gir cow controversy rocks Gorukhuti Project; Congress demands probe

Allegations of irregularities, such as falsified transport and selling of Gir cows bought from Gujarat to legislators has prompted calls for investigation into the project,;

Update: 2025-06-29 06:02 GMT
Gir cow controversy rocks Gorukhuti Project; Congress demands probe

Out of 300 Gir cows supplied by NDDB-NDS, 210 were received by the Garukhuti project (AT Photo)

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Guwahati, June 29: The Gorukhuti Multipurpose Agriculture Project has kicked up a political storm, with State Congress president Gaurav Gogoi demanding an inquiry into the alleged irregularities and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claiming that only “sick” Gir cows were sold to some legislators after the project supervisors expressed inability to keep them.

Allegations of irregularities, such as falsified transport and selling of Gir cows bought from Gujarat to legislators has prompted calls for investigation into the project, which had aimed at promoting agricultural development and self-reliance through modern farming techniques in 77,000 bighas of land cleared from encroachers in Sipajhar.

In response to an RTI query from journalist Dilip Nath, the Garukhuti society stated that out of 300 Gir cows supplied by NDDB-NDS, 210 were received by the Garukhuti project and remaining 90 were distributed among farmers by public representatives due to inadequate infrastructure at the project site. Out of 210 Gir cows received by the project, 56 had died and 154 were returned. If these figures are true, there should not be any cows left in the project site.

Of the distributed Gir cows, the GMDA vice chairman, the Mangaldai MP and the Kamalpur MLA 2 each, the Jonai MLA took 10, the Gohpur MLA took 4, and JMB Aqua Agro Limited took 20. All are said to have bought the cows for Rs 66,000 each, documents revealed.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday claimed that the government was in a dilemma as the cows were in ill health, and the MLAs volunteered to buy the cows.

On the other hand, Gaurav Gogoi today wrote to the Prime Minister seeking an inquiry into the government-supported scheme ‘Assistance to Entrepreneur for Establishment of Commercial Dairy Farming (2022-23)’.

“Funded through public money and intended for community benefit, the Gorukhuti project included the procurement of high-yield Gir cows from Gujarat,” Gogoi wrote in the letter.

“Official records indicate that these were allocated to several elected representatives. The diversion of resources and livestock under a project supported by over Rs 25.5 crore in public funds compromises the very objective of government programmes designed to promote inclusive development. These actions go against the very principles of transparency, accountability, and equitable access. If politically connected individuals are allowed to siphon off benefits meant for the poor, we risk alienating the very people these schemes are meant to uplift,” the letter said.

Gogoi was also critical of the chief minister “who chose to justify the inclusion of ministers’ family members in the list of dairy scheme beneficiarie.”


By

Staff Reporter

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