“In the year 2022-23, in the budget, an announcement was made to create new gaushalas. The gaushalas have not been cancelled but the amount will be diverted to improve existing ones. For this Rs 10.50 crore is allotted,” Law Minister H K Patil said after the cabinet meeting.

“There are 35 new gaushalas for which work has started and 16 gaushalas are completed but there are no cattle in these new gaushalas. Since there are no cattle in these gaushalas, instead of creating more gaushalas the existing ones will be improved with the allotted funds,” Patil said. “In a way, it suggests that the gaushalas were being created without a requirement for them,” he added.

The state has around 66 gaushalas at present.

State BJP chief B Y Vijayendra criticised the Congress government’s move as “highly condemnable”, saying “protecting cows is like protecting the culture of this land”. The BJP leader said that the government’s decision to abandon the BJP’s proposal to open a cow shelter in every district had revealed the Congress’s ‘anti-cow’ stance.

“The fact that cows are not coming to the gaushalas is just an excuse. If the intention was sincere, gaushalas would have already been functioning actively. But, how can we expect a commitment to save and develop gaushalas from the Congress government which always worries about beef eaters?” Vijayendra said on social media.

“This decision of the government is highly condemnable. With this decision, the government has hurt the sentiments of crores of people who worship cows,” he said.

In the 2022-23 budget for Karnataka presented by the Basavaraj Bommai-led government, a proposal was made to create 100 new gaushalas in the state at a cost of Rs 50 crore. “Our government has given importance to the preservation of cattle resources. In this background, Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, was implemented last year. For effective implementation of this Act, the number of Gaushalas will be increased from the present 31 to 100. For this purpose Rs 50 crore will be provided,” Bommai had announced in 2022.

Apart from 100 new cow shelters, the BJP government had also proposed a scheme for the public to fund the upkeep of animals in gaushalas with annual donations. “For the first time in the state, the government will launch ‘Punyakoti Dattu Yojane’ to encourage public and private institutions to adopt cows in the Goshalas by paying Rs 11,000 annually,” Bommai had said.

The BJP, however, lost power in the 2023 state elections.