Haryana boxers return cows gifted by government

What's the story?

Generally, a gift is something which makes people happy but such is not the case for Haryana boxers.

The Haryana government in November, last year had announced that it would be gifting cows to six boxers who won medals at the national championships. However, the boxers who received the presents have since claimed that the cows only 'kick' and do not give milk at all. Despite regular efforts to get milk from the cows, the boxers' families have suffered injuries from their kicks, which has in turn forced them to return the animals to the government.

In case you didn't know

There has been much debate over the status of gifting cows in the country and the Haryana government's decision to gift the animals was looked at with a few raised eye-brows. Needless to say, this particular incident will not help matters.

The heart of the matter

Among the boxers gifted the cows were Neetu Ghanghas and Sakshi Kumar from the city of Bhiwani and Jyoti Gulia and Shashi Chopra from Hisar, all of whom won gold medals at the Senior National Boxing Championship held at Guwahati.

Neetu, Sakshi and Jyoti however, have returned their cows with claims that the animals are dangerous as they have hurt family members with horns.

What's next?

It remains to be seen whether the Haryana government will react immediately to the incident or not but there is no doubt that the athletes continue to remain frustrated with the poor handling of the situation.

Author's take

It is indeed shocking that a simple task like this could not be performed to a satisfactory level by the state government and highlights major flaws in the system.