Explained: What is the Uttar Pradesh government's plan for stray cattle?
To address the stray cattle menace in Uttar Pradesh, the state government plans to build cow shelters that will house up to one lakh bovines and increase the capacity of the existing ones
File photo of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minster feeding a cow at a shelter. PTI
The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government is set to unveil its plan to tackle the stray cattle problem, which was one of its poll promises ahead of the Assembly elections.
The state registered increasing stray cattle menace after a crackdown on illegal slaughter. As per the Indian Express, officials said the idea is to plan long-term, rather than look for quick fixes as in the previous regime.
Earlier, Adityanath had promised that if the BJP forms the government then it would give Rs 900-1,000 every month to the farmers who will adopt and take care of stray cattle.
As per a survey done in 2019, there are about 11.84 lakh stray cattle in the state. Over the last five years, the state government has claimed to provide shelter to about 9.30 lakh cattle.
What is the UP government’s plan to tackle the stray cattle menace?
The state government aims to build shelters in the next 100 days to accommodate up to 50,000 stray cattle. The plan is to house up to 1 lakh stray in the next six months.
Under the stray cattle plan, the state government will build cow sanctuaries to house cattle in a natural habitat.
According to the Indian Express, the state government will also identify 65,000 hectares of land, which will be dedicated to making fodder.
The government will also construct at least 50 mega cow shelters and increase the capacity of the existing ones.
The report said that each district magistrate has also been given the target of ensuring shelter for at least 10 stray cows per day starting from 15 April.
The government has also asked district magistrates to identify available forest areas with a provision for water bodies under their jurisdictions for the purpose of developing cow sanctuaries.
Cow dung will be utilised in biogas plants and will eventually be used to make CNG, as per the government’s plans.
The Yogi government plans to purchase cow dung from farmers for this purpose.
Some biogas units have already been established in the state, including in Kanpur and Varanasi, as per the Indian Express report.
Recently, Minister for Dairy Development and Livestock Dharmpal Singh said that he sees an opportunity to improve the management of gaushalas (cow shelters) with the help of BJP workers.
He said that by sheltering cows in commercially-run gaushalas, the government could profit from their resources.
“As of now, cows remain stray and we don’t get their dung, urine, or milk. Gaushalas will be run on a commercial purpose. Cows will also be reared here [for] panchgavya (five cow products) — milk, curd, ghee, cow dung, urine,” he said, as quoted by The Print.
With inputs from agencies
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