Seven and a half thousand cow shelters in Uttar Pradesh will become organic fertilizer production centres!

There was once discussion in Uttar Pradesh about destitute cattle, cow smuggling and illegal slaughterhouses, but under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the state is now making its mark as a new model of cow conservation, natural farming and rural economy.

Yogi government is now going to develop about 7,500 cow shelters in the state as organic fertilizer production centres. This will provide employment to the youth of rural areas on a large scale. The aim of the Yogi government is not to limit cow protection to just religious or cultural sentiments but to link it with farmers’ income, natural farming, women empowerment and rural employment.

Cow Seva Commission Chairman Shyam Bihari Gupta said that currently 12.5 lakh cows are protected in about seven and a half thousand cow shelters in the state. Yogi government is now going to develop these cow sheds as organic fertilizer production centres. A strategy has been made to reduce the cost of farming and increase the income of farmers by promoting cow dung and cow urine-based natural farming model.

About 5 liters of cow urine and 10 kg dung is obtained from one cow every day. The same resources will be used in manufacturing organic fertilizers, natural pesticides and other cow-based products. This will reduce dependence on chemical fertilizers and increase the fertility of the soil. The Yogi government has approved Rs 2000 crore for the cow protection campaign, while a separate provision of Rs 100 crore has been made for the establishment of large cow protection centres. In this way a total of Rs 2100 crore will be spent.

Construction of 155 large cow protection centers is also going on at a fast pace in the state. The aim of the Yogi government is to establish at least one big self-reliant cow protection center in every district in the coming time. On the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, now women self-help groups and farmer producer organizations (FPOs) will also be linked to the operation of cow shelters.

Yogi government plans to train selected women groups in every district and give them the responsibility of cattle care, nutrition, organic fertilizer manufacturing and product management. This will provide employment to rural women, new sources of income will develop in the villages and the cow protection movement will be strengthened as a public participation based model. Yogi government is working towards making cow service a medium of rural prosperity and women self-reliance.

Under the Chief Minister Partnership Scheme, till now more than 1.80 lakh cows have been handed over to about 1.25 lakh cattle herders. For the maintenance of cattle, the government is sending money directly to the bank accounts of cattle farmers through DBT at the rate of Rs 50 per cow per day. This system has controlled corruption and increased transparency.

This has also strengthened the rural economy. Uttar Pradesh Cow Seva Commission Chairman Shyam Bihari Gupta said that incidents of cow smuggling were common in the state before 2017, but after Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister, strict action was taken against illegal slaughter houses and they were completely closed.

The extensive and organized work done in the field of cow protection under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has never been done before. This is the reason why today Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the first state in the country to do the most work for cow protection.