UP tops up Rs 600 crore cow protection budget with special corpus

Reiterating its commitment towards cow protection and development, the Adityanath government has topped up the 2019-20 budgetary allocation of more than Rs 600 crore, towards cow shelters across Uttar Pradesh, with a special corpus.

The special fund will be used for managing and providing cattle fodder to the temporary stray cow shelters operating in the state.

In its maiden meeting after the conclusion of Lok Sabha polls, the Adityanath cabinet yesterday approved the UP Cow Protection and Development Fund Rules 2019, which paved the way for the establishment of the corpus, which would be built through public and private funds, including donations, non-governmental organisations (NGO), charities, private and government companies, individuals etc.

On January 18, 2019, the cabinet had cleared the proposal of imposing a special cess on the manufacture and bottling of premium brands of Indian Made foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer for cow protection head.

The bottling of liquor and beer now attract a fee of Rs 1 to Rs 3 per bottle. The manufacture of liquor and beer would, in addition to the import permit fee, attract a cess of Rs 0.50 to Rs 2 per bottle. Besides, serving of premium brands of liquor and beer in hotels and restaurants carries a special fee of Rs 10 and Rs 5 per bottle respectively.

At the same time, the state government had also imposed a 2% ‘mandi’ cess for funding its cow protection and development agenda.

Growing farm mechanisation has made male cattle, earlier used for ploughing fields, redundant in rural belts, with many owners abandoning them. The blanket ban on illegal slaughter houses and illegal cattle trade has led to an increase in the number of stray cattle in the state.

At present, there are about 6,000 public and private cow shelters in UP, housing more than 400,000 cattle heads, while more permanent and temporary shelters have been proposed.

While, there are 5,076 temporary cow shelters with more than 307,000 cattle, there are 92 ‘kanha gaushalas’ run by local municipal bodies, housing nearly 20,500 cattle. Apart from the above, there are 434 ‘kanji houses’ (stray cattle houses) in UP, which provide shelter to more than 3,600 cattle. This way, the total number of stray cattle housed in government supported cattle shelters stands over 330,000.

Then, there are 515 privately run cattle shelters, housing nearly 75,000 cattle. These units are also provided financial support to buy fodder for animals.

In the UP Budget 2019-20, the Adityanath government had proposed an allocation of Rs 247 crore for the maintenance and construction of ‘gaushalas’ (cow shelters) in rural areas.

Besides, for ‘kanha gaushalas’ and urban cow shelters, the government has proposed another Rs 200 crore. Under special cess on the sale of foreign liquor, Rs 165 crore would be used for the upkeep of stray cattle.