Una, July 21
Rural Development and Animal Husbandry Minister Virender Kanwar today said that he had sent a legal notice to Naina Devi MLA Ram Lal Thakur of the Congress for levelling defamatory charges against him.
Kanwar, while addressing mediapersons here, said that the MLA should either file an affidavit in the Himachal High Court regarding his allegations or tender a public apology within 30 days, failing which he would face a criminal defamation case.
He said that on Wednesday, Ram Lal had alleged that the government was misusing public funds in the name of conservation and protection of stray cattle. Besides, the MLA also levelled baseless allegations against him, he added.
The minister said that the state government accords priority to the protection of 'Gauvansh'. He added that in the past four-and-a-half years, Rs 51.93 crore had been spent on the construction of 197 cow shelter homes and five cow sanctuaries in the state. Five more sanctuaries were being set up at a cost of Rs 11 crore.
He said that there were about 36,000 stray cattle when the BJP formed government in 2017. "In the past four-and-a-half years, 20,149 stray cattle have been given protection in shelter homes and another 4,000 in five cow sanctuaries," he added.
The minister refuted the Congress MLA's allegation that the proposed Jersey breeding centre in Bilaspur had been shifted to some other location.
Courtesy: Tribune News Service