Yogi govt levies ‘gau raksha’ cess; opposition asks why people are being burdened

The Opposition in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, January 2, slammed the Yogi-government's decision to levy a cess to fund temporary shelters for cattle, saying that this would burden people.

The BJP government decided on Tuesday, December 1, to introduce an additional levy of 0.5% as 'gau raksha' or cow welfare cess on eight profit-making public sector infrastructure companies to fund the construction and maintenance of cow shelters. The government will build temporary cow shelters in every rural and urban local body.

As mentioned in the report, each district will have a capacity of minimum 1,000 cattles. The construction of these shelters will be supervised by the state animal husbandry department and will be funded by MNREGA, MLA and MP funds.

Committees will be set up at the block, tehsil, district, divisional and state level to monitor these shelters

The cess will also apply on travel on some expressways where motorists already pay a toll.

In addition `mandi parishads, which have been giving 1% of their income for cow welfare, will now be asked to pay 2%. Mandi Parishads, earlier used to contribute nearly ₹170 million to the panchayats annually, would now provide ₹340 million with a higher levy. The state has already provided ₹1 billion in the Budget for each of the 75 districts getting ₹12 million for the cow shelter roadmap.

However, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress have criticised the move as they see the policy being unfair, as the funding for the same would impact common people of the state.

"It is the responsibility of the government to protect cows, but I wonder why the people are being burdened," SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said.

UP Congress spokesman Anshu Awasthi said, "The BJP is in power in UP for more than 20 months, but nothing concrete has been done for the cows.” “When the farmers and others are facing immense hardships due to stray cattle, they are now trying to somehow send a message that serious measures are being taken," he said when contacted.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party had sought votes in the name of the cow and now its government is burdening common people, invoking cows.

The government will issue a notification within a week on the new cess under its 'gau kalyan' scheme, said Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi, a day after the cabinet approved the scheme to set up the 'gauvansh ashray sthals'.

"Details are being worked out, and it will be implemented as early as possible," said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey rubbished the opposition criticism, saying the "historic decision" will go a long way in benefiting farmers.

He said it will prove to be “the largest scheme in the world” to help farmers save crops from stray cattle. At the same time it will help in the conservation of cattle, he added.

The sale of byproducts from cattle will also help make the sheds self-dependent, Pandey said.

An official said farmers are abandoning their animals because of increasing mechanisation and the new policy will ensure care for the stray animals.

The additional 0.5% cess will be levied along with the toll collected by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) and similar agencies like, public sector undertakings (PSU), including Setu Nigam (Bridge Corporation) UP Rajkiye Nirman Nigam, UP State Bridge Corporation will be used to generate funds for the planned cow shelters. UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) will contribute 0.5% towards the cow shelter scheme from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund. These decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Adityanath.

The 'Kanji House' system for holding impounded cattle would also be revived, officials said.

The state government has been under some pressure from farmers protesting over stray cattle destroying their crops. Adityanath recently ordered the removal of illegal encroachments to pave the way for fresh grazing grounds.

Over the past week, people in at least two villages in western Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh and Firozabad districts rounded up stray cattle and locked them up in government schools, refusing to let classes run until the administration did something about the animals.

In Aligarh, police stations have started sheltering stray cows after a directive from the district police chief

with inputs from PTI