Gaushalas to come up in UP jails

Some more Uttar Pradesh jails will now have an additional feature of gaushalas or cow shelters.

Yogi Adityanath-led state government has allocated Rs. 20 million for setting up cowsheds on the compounds of 12 district jails of Uttar Pradesh.

The initiative, aimed at protesting the bovine, is meant to house abandoned and old cows, which the prison inmates will tend.

Cow is considered as sacred in Hinduism and various groups, belonging to the faith, have welcomed the move.

"The prison inmates, otherwise sitting idle, will have the prospect of serving cows. This will lead them in the right direction and to a clear concience. I appreciate this decision taken by the Yogi Adityanath government," president of Ram Janma Bhoomi Mahant Nritya Gopal Dasji Maharaj told ANI in Ayodhya.

Last year, Gau Sewa Aayog (Cow Welfare Commission) asked the state's Prison Administration and Reform Services to submit a list of jails for setting up cowsheds.

Following the order, 12 district prisons were chosen in Meerut, Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Balrampur, Gautam Budh Nagar, Firozabad, Kannauj, Agra, Barabanki, Sitapur and Raebareli.