Aligarh admn asks employees to contribute a day’s salary for cow welfare

AGRA: The Aligarh administration asked its employees on Thursday to voluntarily contribute one day’s salary for the welfare of abandoned cattle that are being shifted to a cow shelter.
District magistrate C B Singh confirmed the move, saying the administration employees can voluntarily deposit one day's salary in the bank account of Society for Animal Welfare. Singh said, however, the state government had released Rs 2.10 crore this month but this is inadequate for feeding 30,000 abandoned cattle in the district as Rs 30 is spent on a single cow per day.

The DM said 10,000 abandoned cattleheads have been shifted to the cow shelter, and 40 more such shelters with a capacity to house 40,000 cattleheads are under construction. “I myself deposited Rs 11,000 in the account and almost all the employees including chief development officer and SDMs are doing the same,” said Singh.
Last month, the top brass of Aligarh police had decided to adopt one bovine each in order to resolve the stray cattle menace in the district.
The state government has also imposed a special cess on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and Beer to generate funds for setting up and maintaining temporary cow shelters across the state. The decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Recently, four cows and three calves died apparently due to lack of fodder in Banda district. A team was formed by the administration to ensure availability of fodder for the cattle.
According to reports, six cows had died in the past 20 days at a Nagar Nigam shed which was set up inside its vehicle depot in Surajkund area. Two cows died at the shed of the gram panchayat in village Behchaula of the district while another is reported to be seriously ill. Locals claimed that the cold weather, besides improper arrangements made by the authorities, had led to the death of the cows.
Last year, farmers in Aligarh had locked up all the stray cattle in schools and hospitals to save their crops from being damaged. Around 800 cows were locked up inside a government school and primary health centre in Aligarh by farmers on December 28 to save their crops from being damaged by the cattle. The plight of farmers in Mathura, Hathras, and Bulandshahr has also been the same.