The untold story of Hingonia Gaushala

Cows at the accidental ward of the Hingonia Gaushala

Yesterday, I went to Hingonia Gaushala located in Jaipur to find out what was happening there. As I reached there, I saw that the main gate was closed and guarded by the police to stop the agitated crowd. A woman named Lata Sharma associated with Lal Shakti Sangathan was sitting on hunger strike right in front of the Gaushala. She was surrounded by media who wanted to take her byte. Nobody except the officials and media were allowed to enter the premises. There were a lot of people inside, perhaps, mostly from media (quite obvious after looking at the number of OB vans) to cover the Aam Aadmi Party members who were protesting there. I had no clue how and where to start from but I kept walking confidently. The road was full of cows performing different activities - running, fighting, walking, sitting, shitting and standing. There was little space to walk on the road so I got into a lane which had few cows. I noticed some workers standing nearby. I walked towards them and enquired about the issue. As they began to speak, some women workers also joined.

Women workers at work

These contractual workers told me that they were not paid the salary of the month of May due to which they went on strike on 21^st July. The police lathi charged on women workers, arrested some workers and even registered a case against them. The strike was called off on 6^th August but their salary is still not paid. The unavailability of the labor for 15 days further degraded the situation of the already dysfunctional Gaushala. During the strike, the pens were not cleaned of the cow dung and a new layer of mud was laid on it by the new workers (approximately 50) who were appointed in place of them. As it rained, a marshland was created and cows in large number died after slipping in it. The local people told that normally about 50 cows die every day in the Gaushala. Due to the strike, the number got doubled and highlighted the mismanagement in Hingonia Gaushala. The workers also complained that they are paid Rs.189/- per day which is not adequate to serve their family. No medical facility is provided to them in case of any injury made by the cows. Neither any holiday nor the facility of PF and ESI is provided. There is no toilet facility available for the female workers in the Gaushala. Above all, their salary is not paid in time. The poor working conditions have undoubtedly created discontent among the workers. 

Aggrieved workers

On enquiring the contractor appointed for the months (March-April-May), Nasim Qureshi, I found that he submitted the bill of Rs.12 crores required to pay the salaries of the workers (Gaushala, sweepers, etc) to the Nagar Nigam but was paid only 95 lakhs as on 8^th August. In fact, he received the work order for above stated months 25 days back. The contractor for the month of June and July, Vikram Chaudhary, submitted the bill of Rs. 20 lakhs on 25^th July, not paid by the Nagar Nigam till date. He distributed the salary for the month of June to the Gaushala workers on 3^rd July. Hemant Kumar Gera, Commissioner, Nagar Nigam, refused to speak on the matter while Rakesh Sharma, Additional Commissioner, told “The Government of Rajasthan has not sanctioned the bills of the contractors citing some issues due to which payment is not made. Meanwhile, arrangements will be made to pay the salaries of the workers.” The Financial Advisor is on leave. Harinder Singh, in-charge of the Gaushala held the Contractors responsible for difficulty in the payment.

Certainly, the poor workers are suffering due to the tardy working of the Nagar Nigam.