IIT-Bombay set to get permanent gaushala; students question move

IITBombay is set to inaugurate a permanent gaushala or cattle shelter behind the Padmavati temple near the campusrsquos lakeside on January 22 According to the internal event invitation Ashwini Bhide additional municipal commissioner is the chief guest at the inauguration The decision has sparked concerns among a few individuals on campus prompting them to reproach the administration for what they perceive as a failure to maintain political neutralityThe temporary cow shed near hostel 8 on the IITB campus which was set up in 2020An internal invite email by Sudhir Shantaram Bhave on behalf of the IITB cattle management committee stated ldquoAs you all can witness our campus streets grounds academic hostel and residential areas and various other activity locations are now free from uncontrolled cattle movement This has become possible through the dedicated efforts of the committee in collaboration with the Cattle Welfare Group CWG and an esteemed NGO This initiative of the institute creating dedicated shelters and arrangements helped in the enhanced management of cattle movement and the mitigation of cattlehuman conflict Since December 2019 gaushala activities have been managed in temporary sheds albeit with certain limitations It is with great pleasure that we announce the completion of our new improved gaushala in the picturesque lakeside area behind the Devi Padmavati temple This milestone project marks a significant step forward in our commitment to the welfare of our campus environmentrdquo According to the email Gopal Rai an IITB alumnus and his construction company Dhirendra Group of Companies DGC helped make the gaushala a realityTemporary shedIn 2020 IITB officially established a temporary cow shed near Hostel 8 citing efforts to address the increasing humananimal conflict on campus The shelter was formally inaugurated on July 12 that year by Subhasis Chaudhuri the institutersquos director At the time there were 100 cattle on campus as per institute recordsA research student told midday ldquoIn 2019 a student had an encounter with a bull which was captured by CCTV cameras bringing attention to the longstanding problem of cattle freely roaming near academic buildings hostels and even residential areas on campus Humancattle conflict on campus then became a talking pointIn response the institute immediately formed a sixmember committee led by Prof Tapanendu Kundu the dean of student affairs and comprising both professors and student representatives The committee determined that land near or behind hostel 8 would be allocated for the rehabilitation of cattle with the provision of hiring caretakers for their wellbeingrdquoAs per the minutes of a cattle committee meeting held on November 22 2019 obtained under the Right to Information RTI Act in 2022 by the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle APPSC a student collective IITB had been paying Rs 180000 in labour charges Rs 80000 in fodder expenses and Rs 2500030000 in mess charges of Gopalaks caretaker of cattle every monthThe other sideldquoThe gaushala behind hostel 8 is still there It took us years of fighting to get the institute to provide an office for SCST cells to help address the issues of Dalit Bahujan and Adivasi students However IITBombay has had a 4000sqft area for cows since 2020rdquo said a studentMeanwhile members of APPSC took to X to question the institute for majority appeasement Their post read ldquoThe institute has reportedly permitted a procession lsquoShriram darbar shobha yatrarsquo happening on January 21 on campus The director will be inaugurating a gaushala on January 22hellip Very recently though the institute had declared that it shall ldquoremain apolitical in all its endeavoursrsquordquo Despite repeated texts and calls from midday there was no response from the IITB administration on the issue2019Year student had encounter with bull