Scheme of Assistance for Management of Stray Cattle

What is the Scheme of Assistance for Management of Stray Cattle?

The Scheme of Assistance for Management of Stray Cattle is run by the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board (GGVB) under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat. It supports Panjrapoles, the traditional animal shelters of Gujarat, registered as charitable institutions, in taking in and looking after cattle that roam the roads and market yards with no owner.

The scheme's mechanism is deliberately simple. For each stray animal a registered Panjrapole accepts and maintains, a one-time maintenance assistance of Rs 4,000 is payable. The scheme's benefit table records a minimum time limit of one year for reclaiming the component benefit, which ties the payment to actual upkeep rather than to a single day's admission.

Stray cattle are a public safety and public health issue as much as an animal welfare one. Animals loose on highways cause accidents, they damage standing crops, and they are exposed to injury, plastic ingestion and disease. Gujarat's answer has been to work through the institutions that already do this work — panjrapoles and gaushalas; rather than build a parallel municipal system, and this scheme is the part of that answer that pays for taking a stray animal in.

Who is eligible for the stray cattle management assistance?

A Panjrapole qualifies if:

• It is registered under the Public Charity Act.
• It accepts and maintains stray cattle in its own facility.

Who cannot apply:

• Individuals and private cattle owners are not eligible. The assistance is for animals that have no owner; a household's own cattle are outside the scheme.
• Unregistered shelters cannot apply. Registration under the Public Charity Act is the threshold test, and a shelter that operates informally must regularise its registration first.
• A claim for an animal already assisted is not admissible, because the Rs 4,000 is payable once for each stray animal.
• Commercial dairies and private cattle farms are not eligible, since they keep owned, productive animals rather than sheltered strays.
• Municipal bodies and panchayats do not apply for this particular component in their own name; the assistance is written for the registered Panjrapole that keeps the animal.

What documents are required?

The application form itself lists any further documents the Board requires in a given year, and the instruction on the form prevails where it differs from a general list.

How to apply for the stray cattle management scheme

1. Open the i-Khedut portal at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in.
2. On the home page click Schemes, then Animal Husbandry Schemes.
3. Select the Scheme of Assistance for Management of Stray Cattle and click Apply; the application page opens.
4. Click Apply New and enter the Panjrapole's registration details, the number of stray animals taken in, and the institution's bank details.
5. Use Update Application to correct anything before final submission.
6. Confirm the application, an unconfirmed application is not treated as submitted.
7. Print the confirmed application, get it signed and stamped by the local veterinary officer, attach the documents listed on the form, and submit it to the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board within 30 days of the online application.
8. Check progress through the Applicant Corner at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in/public/frm_Applicant_Corner.aspx.

How to complete the offline step

1. Take the printed, confirmed application to the local veterinary officer, who inspects the shelter and the animals before signing and stamping it.
2. Attach the Public Charity Act registration certificate and the animal-wise record of strays taken in.
3. Deliver the set to the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board, Block No. 7, 2nd Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Sector-10, Gandhinagar, inside the 30-day window, and keep a receipted copy for your records.

How to check status and follow up on payment

1. Use the Applicant Corner on i-Khedut with your application number to see the current stage.
2. Re-upload any document the Board flags as unclear from the same screen.
3. If the file has been verified but payment has not been credited, contact the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board on 079-23256327 / 28 / 29 or write to gauseva.gov@gmail.com, quoting the application number.

Why applications get rejected, and how to avoid it

• The 30-day deadline for the hard copy was missed. This is the most common failure. The online application does not stand alone.
• No veterinary officer signature or stamp on the printed application.
• Charity Act registration expired or not produced.
• No animal-wise record, so the number of animals claimed cannot be verified.
• Duplicate claim for an animal already assisted under the scheme.
• Bank details not in the institution's name, which stops the credit.
• Application filed by an individual or an unregistered shelter, which the scheme does not allow.

Other Gauseva Board support a Panjrapole can use

This scheme is one component in the Gauseva and Gauchar Vikas Board's set of programmes for gaushalas and panjrapoles. The Board separately runs assistance for infrastructural facilities such as cattle sheds, water arrangements and storage; a scheme for the upgradation of gaushalas and panjrapoles aimed at conserving the Gir and Kankrej indigenous breeds; a scheme for the management and purchase of breeding bulls; and an incentive prize scheme for well-run institutions. A shelter that is already registered for the stray cattle component will typically be eligible to apply for several of these, all through the same i-Khedut route under Animal Husbandry Schemes and all needing the same signed hard copy to the Board.

Panjrapoles should note that the components are distinct, with separate application forms and separate ceilings. Assistance for taking in a stray animal does not substitute for infrastructure assistance, and applying under one does not create a claim under another.

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.
• Local veterinary officer: verifies and endorses the printed application.
• i-Khedut portal: ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in for filing and for the Applicant Corner.

Applying is free. No agent or intermediary is required, and the Board publishes its scheme details, Government Resolutions and contact information openly on gauseva.gujarat.gov.in.