Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday raised concerns over the “horrific” conditions of cows in Uttar Pradesh and asked chief minister Yogi Adityanath to take a cue from Chhattisgarh’s ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’ on their protection.
“The UP government may probably take inspiration from the scheme and we all can serve cows. We can save the cows from being forced to live and die in such horrific conditions and can also help our farmers,” said Priyanka in the letter that the state party released to the media on Monday.
Drawing attention towards the death of cows in a cow shelter home in Lalitpur, Priyanka Gandhi said the pictures suggest that the cows may have died due to hunger.
“You talked about protecting cows while assuming power. Despite your announcements in this regard, efforts of your government have failed. The corrupt officers and those running cow shelters are indulging in corruption and no one knows how many cows are dying for lack of fodder and water,” said Gandhi.
The Congress leader detailed how the cow shelters are becoming self-reliant in Chhattisgarh.
“Under this Chhattisgarh government scheme, work is being done to protect cows, boost agriculture, conserve the environment, revive canals, take care of stray animals and make organic fertilizer. The Chhattisgarh government has started buying cow dung for Rs 2 per kg. Cow dung for Rs 15 crore per month is being bought as of now. This cow dung, being brought through cow shelter homes, is being used to make vermi-compost which is being sold to government agencies and private consumers at Rs 8 per kg. With this, cow shelter homes are becoming self-reliant,” she said.
She further said: “The ‘Godhan Nyay Yojana’ is leading to two main benefits – people are feeding their cows at home and not leaving them, while stray cows are being kept in shelter homes. Those being benefited from the scheme include more than half of women and a large number of unemployed persons of backward classes…. I hope you also want the welfare of cows. So I am writing this letter to you to put a stop to atrocities against the cows. I understand this is my responsibility to make you aware of these issues.”
CM Adityanath, who is often seen feeding cows and pictured on many occasions with them, said in November that 524,000 cows are kept in government-run shelters, while more than eight lakh of them have been housed in ‘Kanha Upvan’, the cow shelters being run by local bodies in the state.
After the cow shelters started overflowing, the Yogi Adityanath government launched the Chief Minister Destitute Cows Participation Scheme in August last year offering willing farmers to take strays against an affidavit that they would look after them properly at home.
