LUCKNOW: The UP government has ensured closure of 150 illegal slaughter houses in the state after coming to power in March 2017. It has also identified 356 mafia elements involved in the cattle smuggling, said a government spokesperson here on Monday.
Hitting out at the previous Samajwadi Party government for allowing cattle smuggling to flourish in UP, the spokesperson said that currently only 35 slaughter houses are operational in the state. Besides, the government has initiated legal action against 1,823 criminals involved in the cattle smuggling and has confiscated assets worth over Rs 18 crore of 68 cattle smugglers who were booked under the UP Gangster and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act.
The spokesperson said that cow smuggling has always been a sensitive issue in UP and has led to several incidents of violence. The previous SP government had overlooked the functioning of slaughter houses which were flouting rules openly, he said. “In the SP regime everyone seeking to open a slaughter house used to get permission and nobody was concerned with ensuring that he should adhere to rules and regulations. But the situation changed after Yogi Adityanath took over as the UP CM. He has successfully ensured implementation of the Supreme Court’s order and the Centre’s guidelines in this regard,” he said.
The UP police data shows that 319 cow smugglers have been arrested in the past 4.5 years, while properties of two have been attached and 14 booked under the National Security Act. Another 280 have been charged under Gangster’s Act and 114 under Goonda Act.
Meanwhile, in an adoption programme for destitute cows under which the government gives an allowance of Rs 900 per month to farmers for looking after a stray cow, more than 83,200 cows have been given to 43,168 people till July 2021. There are 5,278 permanent cow shelters in the state which house about 5,86,793 cows. The Municipal Bodies Act was also amended in 2018, freeing municipal bodies from the responsibility of building and running government slaughter houses. Now, anyone can run a slaughter house with the permission of a state level committee of the urban development department, he added.
