U.P government’s ‘adopt a stray cow’ scheme gets good response

Published : Oct 10, 2019 18:10 IST

The scene on the ever-busy Delhi-Noida link road a few days ago.

The scene on the ever-busy Delhi-Noida link road a few days ago.

Adopt a cow/bull/buffalo and earn a monthly income. That is the bright idea of the Uttar Pradesh government to generate employment for people and solve the problem of stray cattle.

Under the scheme announced by the Yogi Adityanath government on September 9, people can adopt a maximum of four stray cattle and the government will pay them Rs.30 a day per animal. According to senior State government officials, the scheme has generated a good response. In Lucknow alone, over 1,500 applications for adoption have been received, which are now being “screened”.

In the event of any cattle falling sick, the individual will have to inform the authorities concerned for provision of free treatment. In the case of death, a post-mortem would be conducted to ascertain the cause in order to rule out foul play.

Stray cattle menace on the road continues to afflict Uttar pradesh even though the government has gone out of its way to protect the rampaging herds of cattle destroying crops in the rural areas or causing accidents in urban areas. Ever since the formation of theYogi Adityanath government and the strict implementation of the ban on cow slaughter stray cattle has become a nuisance on city roads. Road accidents have become common on roads that cater to fast-moving traffic.

This is despite the fact that the government prefers spending more on gaushalas and cattle protection measures than on improving infrastructure for primary school education. As per the U.P. government's 2019-20 budget, a sum of Rs.600 crore has been set aside for cattle welfare, as opposed to Rs.500 crore for improving infrastructure of primary schools. Of the total budget for cattle protection, Rs.250 crore is for building cowsheds in rural areas and another Rs.200 crores for sheds in urban areas. The government has also imposed a cess on all excise duties, which is expected to generate another Rs.165 crore. This money the government intends to use for feeding the stray bovine population.

Uttar Pradesh has around 12 lakh stray cattle as per a 2012 cattle census, which puts the total cattle population at 205.66 lakh. The State, however, has only 523 registered cattle sheds, and it plans to build more in the coming years.

The government has taken to geo tagging of stray cattle to keep a track of their movement. To minimise road accidents, the government has taken to putting radium belts on the neck or horns of cattle so that motorists can spot them easily. But these measures have yet to show results. Meanwhile, herds of cows and buffaloes continue to roam around in rural and urban areas: either destroying crops or laying siege to roads in cities and towns.

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