Lending a helping hand to the dairy farmers from rural areas, Tamil Nadu government has decided to build 25,000 cow and goat shelters for them. The project will cost Rs 431 crore and will be undertaken by Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR). Out of the 25,000 beneficiaries, 40 per cent are from scheduled castes.

"The whole expense of the development of the shelters would be endured by the centre and will be actualized through the Village Panchayats. The work will be done through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme," said RDPR Director, K S Palanisamy. In accordance with the Government Order, out of 25,000 shelters, 15,000 would be developed for cows and the rest 10,000 will be for goats.  

The development cost of one unit of shelter with a capacity to take in 2 cows is Rs 1.35 lakh and for 5 cows, it is Rs 2.12 lakh. The normal expense of a shelter for accommodating 10 goats is Rs 1.53 lakh and for a total of 20 goats is Rs 2.27 lakh. The absence of cattle shelters influences the internal temperature levels of cows which is vital for impregnating a cow through manual semen injection. The normal life expectancy and milk yielding limit of cattles additionally descends, farmers said.