Yogi plans to brand and sell ‘cow-urine’ and ‘cow-dung’ to generate employment 

Battling to open new employment avenues in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has found gau mata (cow) as the golden solution and has proposed branding of products made from cow dung and cow urine and link them to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.

“If we can brand products made out of cow dung and cow urine and sell them through the MSME sector we can generate employment for the youth. This is a golden opportunity and we should not waste it,” he said while inaugurating the Kaushal Satrang programme organised by the Vocational Education and Skill Development and Labour and Employment Exchange departments in Lucknow on Thursday.

He spelt out the full project under which zero budget farming would be promoted through conservation and promotion of cows. He said that cow dung and urine should not go waste. The products made from cow dung and urine will increase employment opportunities. Youth will be linked with employment as well as entrepreneurship in every district of the state through CM Youth Hub scheme. Youth will get Rs 2500 under CM Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, Yogi announced

He also said that over five lakh youth had got employment through One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme in one year.

Since Yogi Adityanath took charge of Uttar Pradesh on March 19, 2017 his government has launched a special drive to elevate the role of the cow. Slaughtering of cow is totally banned and most slaughter houses have been closed. This has led to stray cattle menace across the state, leaving farmers at the mercy of stray cattle (read cow). Gau rakshak samiti (Cow protection squads) have suddenly come up. Angry mobs have lynched people suspected of smuggling cows.

The state government has set up several make-shift cow sheds and gaushalas across the state where the stray animals are being kept.  CM says these gaushalas are big source of row material for these products which is available at the door steps of the entrepreneurs.

BJP leaders second Yogi’s proposal.

State party general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that CM’s suggestion is practical and highly valuable.  “Take example of sugarcane. This is a cash rich product only because its by-products are helpful.  The molasses the major by-product of sugarcane is used in liquor and pharmaceutical industry while bagasse another by-product is used in co-generation of electricity. Similarly, the by-product  of gau-vansh (cow) like urine and cow dung can be used in manufacture of different medicinal products because of its therapeutic use,” he said.

Pathak said that Ayurveda says that cow products like dung, milk and urine have healing properties. In villages people still use cow dung to pave floors and Hindus believe drinking cow urine is good for health.

Recently, a BJP legislator in Assam Suman Haripriya has claimed to have found in cow dung a cure for COVID-19 and said that ‘gomutra’ (cow urine) can be an antidote for cancer.

In Assam Vidhan sabha she said that she believes cow dung can help fight the deadly coronavirus.

Haripriya was a film-maker before joining politics.