Gomantak Govsamvardhan Yojana

What is Gomantak Govsamvardhan Yojana?

Gomantak Govsamvardhan Yojana is a cattle conservation scheme of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Government of Goa. Its purpose is to conserve the local breeds of cattle in Goa by ensuring that dairy farmers or individuals actually rear these animals, feeding them with feed, fodder and water on a daily basis, in their own property and their own cattle shed; rather than letting them roam.

The scheme is a direct answer to a visible Goan problem. Non-descript local cattle have little commercial milk value, so owners often let them wander on roads and into fields. Gomantak Govsamvardhan Yojana attaches a daily payment to stall feeding, and pulls the payment back the moment the animal is found loose.

What the scheme pays

• Financial assistance of Rs 80 per animal per day.
• The assistance covers the cost of maintenance of local breed cattle; feed, fodder and other miscellaneous costs — bundled together in one component.
• The subsidy is credited directly to the bank account of the beneficiary.
• Payment is made on a quarterly basis, on the strength of a quarterly report in Annexure "A" prepared by the area officer.

At Rs 80 a day, a single qualifying animal yields about Rs 7,280 in a 91-day quarter, and the maximum of 5 animals per family yields about Rs 36,400 a quarter, subject to the monthly inspections being satisfactory.

Scale of the scheme

The number of cattle to be reared was restricted to 250 cows per district for the financial year 2024-25, with subsequent increases based on response. Where more applications are received than 250 cattle per district, priority can be decided based on the grazing area of the beneficiary. Out of the 250 cattle per district, 12% is reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 2% for Scheduled Castes; where there is no demand in the reserved categories, the demand is booked under the general component.

Who is eligible and who is not eligible?

You can apply if:

• You are a dairy farmer or an individual of the State of Goa.
• You are a bonafide resident of Goa for at least the preceding 15 years.
• You own non-descript cattle or Shwet Kapila cattle.
• You have an adequate cattle shed as per the Bureau of Indian Standards.
• Your location falls in a rural area, or in a Class C or Class B Municipality.

You are not eligible if:

• You have lived in Goa for less than 15 preceding years. The residence requirement is strict.
• Your cattle are not local breed. The scheme is limited to non-descript and Shwet Kapila cattle.
• You do not have a cattle shed meeting the Bureau of Indian Standards housing regulations, or one that cannot be easily inspected and the animals counted by the area officer.
• You are located outside rural areas and Class C and B Municipalities.
• You rear more than 25 cattle and do not meet the Pollution Control Board norms. Responsibility for those norms rests with the applicant.

What conditions must the beneficiary keep?

The payment is conditional on continuing compliance, checked every month:

• The cattle must be stall-fed in the cattle shed, or kept within the paddock area.
• The cattle must be housed as per the approved housing regulations for cattle laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
• The housing must allow the local area Assistant Director or Veterinary Officer of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services to inspect and count the animals easily.
• The local breed cattle must be regularly vaccinated. Refusal to vaccinate leads to immediate forfeiture of the scheme's benefits, including benefits that were due to be received.
• If the cattle are found let loose outside the paddock area, further benefit is stopped immediately and the farmer is not considered in the scheme in future. A one-time exemption is available where the animal let itself loose due to circumstances beyond the owner's control, on a written request with photographic proof of the animals, duly recommended by the area officer and addressed to the Director, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services.

How to apply for Gomantak Govsamvardhan Yojana

1. Get the prescribed application form. It is published with the scheme notification in the Goa Official Gazette, available from goaprintingpress.gov.in, and at the local veterinary hospital or dispensary.
2. Fill the form in all respects. Include the permanent address where the cattle shed is located and your bank account details, because the subsidy is credited to that account.
3. Get the agreement bond notarised. A notarised agreement bond must go in along with the application.
4. Pay the Rs 50 application processing fee. This fee is non-refundable, and the receipt or proof of payment must be submitted with the form.
5. Submit the complete application: form, documents, notarised agreement bond and fee receipt; to the local area Assistant Director or Veterinary Officer of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services.
6. Allow the verification survey. The area Assistant Director or Veterinary Officer conducts a mandatory verification survey of the premises and of the number of local breed cattle, and inspects the cattle shed against the prescribed housing guidelines.
7. Wait for the recommendation and sanction. After a satisfactory inspection the officer recommends the application and submits the file to the Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services for final sanction.
8. Get the cattle microchipped or ear-tagged. After approval, the area Assistant Director, Veterinary Officer or Veterinary Assistant carries out microchipping or ear tagging. This is mandatory before any money is released.

How is the money released and how do I check my payment?

Once the case is sanctioned and the animals are tagged, the area Assistant Director or Veterinary Officer visits the cattle shed every month and compiles a quarterly progress report in Annexure "A" verifying the maintenance and presence of the cattle. On the strength of that approved quarterly report, the calculated financial subsidy is credited directly into the beneficiary's savings bank account.

There is no online status tracker for this scheme. To check a pending payment, approach the same area Assistant Director or Veterinary Officer who processed your application, quoting your application details, or contact the Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Office No. 401, 4th Floor and 502 and 504, 5th Floor, "SPACES" Building, Patto, Panaji, Goa 403001, phone 0832-2437245, fax 0832-2437244.

What are the common reasons a claim stops or is rejected?

• Cattle found loose. This is the most serious lapse and permanently ends participation, subject to the one-time exemption.
• Refusal to vaccinate. Forfeiture is immediate and includes benefits already due.
• A shed that does not meet BIS norms, or one in which the animals cannot be easily inspected and counted.
• Residence short of 15 years in Goa.
• Cattle that are not local breed. Crossbred and exotic dairy animals are outside the scheme.
• The district cap being exhausted. With 250 cattle per district in 2024-25, applications can be held pending even when eligible, with priority decided on grazing area.
• Missing notarised agreement bond or Rs 50 fee receipt, which make the application incomplete.

Where does this scheme sit among Goa's other cattle schemes?

The Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services publishes its full scheme list at ahvs.goa.gov.in/schemes. Related schemes on that list include Mukhyamantri Sudharit Kamdhenu Scheme and its infrastructure components, the Kamdhenu Scheme (Sudharit) as amended in 2021, the Scheme for Cattle Feed Subsidy, the Revised Scheme for Incentives to Milk Producers, the Dairy Equipment Scheme, the Scheme for Incentive to Green Fodder Cultivation, and the Goa Stray Cattle Management Scheme 2013 as modified. Gomantak Govsamvardhan Yojana is distinct from all of these in that it pays a daily maintenance rate for conserving local breeds rather than supporting milk production or infrastructure.

Where do I raise a grievance?

Approach the area Assistant Director or Veterinary Officer first, since they hold the file and prepare the quarterly report. For an unresolved matter, write to the Director, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, at the SPACES Building, Patto, Panaji address, phone 0832-2437245. Written requests for the one-time exemption where an animal let itself loose must in any case be addressed to the Director, routed through and recommended by the area officer.