UP cow shelters get Rs 647 crore in Yogi government’s budget
Yogi Adityanath government presented its third budget in UP assembly on Thursday.
The Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh has proposed to spend over Rs 647 crore in the 2019-20 budget on the maintenance of cow-shelters in the state. In the annual budget presented by UP Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal, Rs 247.60 crore was allocated for the maintenance of cow -shelters in rural areas.
Another amount of Rs 200 crore was allocated for the upkeep of cow shelters, under “Kanha Gaushala and Besahara Pashu Ashram” scheme in the urban areas in Uttar Pradesh.
It is the third budget of the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh after having come to power in March 2017. The total budgetary allocations made for financial year 2019-20 was Rs 4.79 lakh crore, which is 12 per cent higher than the previous year’s budget.
A separate budgetary allocation for cow welfare follows a series of steps announced by the Yogi government in recent months. In January this year, the state government issued a special order allowing corporate houses to use corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to provide facilities for abandoned cows in rural areas.
The Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code 2006 does not allow transfer of grazing ground to any non-governmental organisation (NGO). The government, therefore, issued a separate order for the purpose.
Earlier, the government had announced to impose a cow welfare cess and a special fee on beer and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) to fund construction of cow shelters in Uttar Pradesh.
In December last year, the chief minister government announced setting up a committee under the chief secretary to extend financial help to those rearing abandoned bovines including cows. He also said that the municipal corporations would be given Rs 10 crore for stray cattle management in each district.
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