Audit exposes irregularities worth ₹57cr in Rajasthan's cow protection scheme
What's the story
An audit has revealed alleged irregularities worth over ₹57 crore in Rajasthan's cow protection scheme. The audit revealed that government funding was claimed for cows that had died or were not kept in gaushalas, while several gaushalas claimed fodder and water subsidies by showing inflated cattle numbers. The Comptroller and Auditor General report highlighted that 38 gaushalas inflated their cattle numbers by around 1.31 lakh. This led to the release of additional grants amounting to ₹57.36 crore, the audit found.
Record mismatch
Discrepancies in cattle records
The audit also discovered discrepancies between daily cattle records maintained by gaushalas and data on the Bharat Pashudhan App.
Despite these mismatches, grants continued to be sanctioned without proper verification.
The irregularities also included payments for invalid, inactive, or unregistered cattle.
Under the scheme, gaushalas receive ₹40 per day for adult cattle and ₹20 per day for calves.
Gaushala fraud
Prominent gaushalas named in fraud
The CAG report also named several prominent gaushalas in Jaipur as part of the fraud.
Among them, Pinjrapole Gaushala allegedly received excess grants of around ₹1.81 crore, while Hingonia Gaushala was given additional funds of nearly ₹1.41 crore.
The largest discrepancy was reported from Shri Braj Kamad Surabhi Van Research Institute Gaushala in Deeg district, which allegedly received around ₹16.36 crore in excess funds.
Fund recovery
Recovery of excess amount ordered
In light of the audit findings, the Gopalan Department has ordered the recovery of the alleged excess amount of ₹57.36 crore from these gaushalas.
Notices were issued to concerned shelters on May 29, 2026, asking them to deposit the alleged excess amount within a specified period. They were also warned that failure to comply could lead to suspension of future administrative and financial approvals.
However, despite repeated notices for recovery, a large part of the amount remains unrecovered.