Over Rs6B allocated for cows in UP budget

lucknow — With elections around the corner, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday put the cow and farmers at the centre of its budget allocation: the government has set aside an unprecedented over Rs6 billion for the protection and welfare of cows and provided around Rs15 billion for agricultural development.

Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal presented a Rs 4.79 trillion budget for 2019-20, claiming to curb fiscal deficit at Rs 469 billion or 2.97 per cent, which is within the mandated three per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.

Presenting the budget in the Assembly, Agarwal said that Rs 8.92 billion has been allocated for the National Agriculture Development Scheme, Rs 4.5 billion for National Crop Insurance Scheme and Rs 1.5 billion for pre-storage of fertilisers to ensure that the farmers don’t have any problem in procurement.

The state government has also set a target to distribute 60.51 lakh quintal of seeds and 77.26 lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers during 2019-20.

It plans to strengthen and construct warehouse system in 40 ‘Mandi’ sites in partnership with the State Warehousing Corporation, with each warehouse having a capacity of 5,000 metric tonnes. This is aimed, Agarwal said, at giving an impetus to agriculture marketing.

The state government has also taken a decision to develop 500 markets in the rural areas at a cost of Rs 1.5 billion. The budget also proposes to buy wheat at a rate of Rs 1,840 per quintal.

However, special attention has been given to cow welfare.

Apart from the estimated revenue of Rs 1.65 billion from a special excise cess which will be used to construct and maintain destitute cattle sheds, the budget proposes Rs 2476 million for maintenance and construction of gaushalas in the rural areas.

A sum of Rs2 billion has also been kept for Kanha Gaushalas and destitute cattle shelters in urban areas, and Rs 200 million for establishment and reconstruction of cattle impounding houses. —