Scheme for Management and Purchase of Bulls Provided for Breeding of State Gir/ Kankarej Breed

What is the Gir/Kankrej breeding bull scheme?

The Scheme for Management and Purchase of Bulls Provided for Breeding of State Gir/Kankarej Breed is run by the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board (GGVB) under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat. Gujarati readers will find the same scheme referred to as the Gir/Kankrej sandh (bull) assistance scheme.

The purpose is narrow and practical. Gir and Kankrej are Gujarat's two flagship indigenous cattle breeds. Where a village herd has no purebred bull, natural service happens with whatever animal is available, the breed drifts, and calf quality and milk yield fall with it. This scheme places a high-quality purebred Gir or Kankrej breeding bull with a Gram Panchayat or a registered Gaushala and pays for its purchase and its upkeep, so that the cows of that village and its neighbours are served by a known, pedigreed sire.

According to the scheme's published assistance norms:

Assistance is provided for three years per eligible organisation. Taken together, an organisation that buys its own bull can receive up to about Rs 2,72,600 across the three years.

Who is eligible for the Gir/Kankrej bull assistance?

Eligible applicants:

• A Gram Panchayat, applying in its official capacity.
• A Gaushala registered under the Public Charity Act.

Eligibility conditions:

• The applicant must have at least 100 breedable cows in its coverage area.
• Where a single village does not have enough breedable cows, the breedable cows of neighbouring villages may be counted, provided the applicant gives a written guarantee covering those villages.
• The bull must be a purebred Gir or Kankrej animal, either supplied by the Board or purchased by the organisation.

Who cannot apply:

• Individual farmers and private cattle owners are not eligible. The scheme is institutional; a household herd is outside its scope.
• Unregistered Gaushalas cannot apply. Registration under the Public Charity Act is a precondition.
• An organisation with fewer than 100 breedable cows in its area, and no neighbouring-village guarantee to make up the number, is not eligible.
• Buffalo or crossbred cattle keeping is not covered. The scheme is limited to the Gir and Kankrej indigenous cattle breeds.
• Dairies, private breeding farms and commercial semen operations do not fall within the eligible applicant categories.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Gir/Kankrej breeding bull scheme

1. Open the i-Khedut portal at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in.
2. On the home page click Schemes, then Animal Husbandry Schemes (Pashupalan ni Yojanao).
3. Select this scheme from the list and click Apply; the application page opens.
4. Click Apply New and fill in the organisation's details, the village or villages covered, the number of breedable cows, whether the bull is to be supplied by the Board or purchased by the organisation, and bank details.
5. Use Update Application if you need to correct anything before submitting.
6. Confirm the application. An application that is saved but not confirmed is not in the queue.
7. Print the confirmed application, get it signed and stamped by the district nodal officer of the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board, attach the documents listed in the form, and submit it to the Board within 30 days of the online application.
8. Track the file through the Applicant Corner at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in/public/frm_Applicant_Corner.aspx.

How to complete the offline part of the application

1. Take the printout of the confirmed i-Khedut application to the GGVB district nodal officer, who verifies the herd and the organisation's standing before signing and stamping it.
2. Attach the Public Charity Act registration certificate, the estimation document, the village map or area plan and the record of breedable cows.
3. Deliver the complete set to the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board, Block No. 7, 2nd Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Sector-10, Gandhinagar, within the 30-day limit, and keep a receipted copy.

How to check the status of your application

1. Open the Applicant Corner on i-Khedut and enter your application number.
2. Use the same page to view, print or re-upload documents if the Board asks for a correction.
3. For questions about verification or release of an instalment, contact the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board on 079-23256327, 079-23256328 or 079-23256329, or your district nodal officer.

Why applications get rejected, and how to avoid it

• The 30-day hard copy deadline was missed. The online application alone does not complete the process; the signed printout must reach the Board within 30 days.
• No nodal officer signature and stamp on the printed application.
• The 100 breedable cow condition is not evidenced, or the neighbouring village guarantee is missing when cows outside the village are counted.
• Gaushala registration is not current under the Public Charity Act.
• Application filed by an individual, which the scheme does not permit.
• Estimation document missing, so the purchase and upkeep cost cannot be assessed.
• Bank details do not match the organisation named in the application.

What the second and third year payments depend on

The Rs 64,800 for the second year and the same amount for the third year are management support, not a repeat purchase grant. They are meant to cover feed, veterinary care and upkeep of the bull that was placed in the first year. An organisation should therefore keep the bull in service, maintain a simple service register showing which cows were covered and when, and keep the animal available to the farmers of the covered villages. Where the bull is sold, disposed of, or no longer serving the village herd, the case for the later instalments falls away.

Which other Gauseva Board schemes may help?

The Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board runs a related set of schemes for the same type of applicant — assistance for infrastructural facilities at gaushalas and panjrapoles, upgradation of gaushalas and panjrapoles, assistance for the management of stray cattle, and incentive prizes for well-run institutions. A Gaushala that qualifies for the breeding bull scheme will usually be eligible to apply for one or more of these as well, and all of them are applied for on i-Khedut under Animal Husbandry Schemes with a signed hard copy to the Board.

Help and contact

• Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board: Block No. 7, 2nd Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Sector-10, Gandhinagar. Phone 079-23256327 / 28 / 29, email gauseva.gov@gmail.com.
• District nodal officer, GGVB: the first contact for verification and for signing the printed application.
• i-Khedut portal: ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in for the application and the Applicant Corner for status.

There is no fee for applying, and no agent is needed. The scheme documents and the Board's contact details are published free on gauseva.gujarat.gov.in.