UP Elections are on eastward winds and people have started talking about discomfort caused by stray cattle in the region. Farmers in UP have been in discomfort for past 5-6 years because of menace caused by stray cattle in the crop fields. Farmers are forced to guard their fields at the night and work during the day which has been a huge struggle government has not addressed in past 5 years in power.
Why Is It A Conversation in Eastern UP Elections?
Western UP is a buffalo belt and eastern UP is the opposite of it. If one sees Livestock census of 2019 they will find out that as you move from west to east the population of cow and its progeny starts rising. When Yogi Government came in power it made strict laws and administrative constructs on cattle slaughter. But very soon the consequences were witnessed by the poor farmers of the state.
A farmer of Harraiya tehsil of Basti district told Indian Express that five years ago this was not a problem but now there are 50-60 bulls in the village. The same problem has been faced by many farmers where they have to keep themselves wide awake to secure the crop fields from destruction by stray cattle.
Another farmer told spokesperson of Indian Express that the cattle have destroyed 3 out of 5 bigha of wheat crop. The farmer said that in Assembly Elections 2017 and Lok Sabha Elections 2019 I chanted ‘Gau Hatya Band Karo’ by my own will and voted for BJP. But now I am supporting Samajwadi Party candidate Triyambak Nath Pathak in UP Elections 2022.
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Cattle slaughter ban was always a law in the state but in Samajwadi Party and BSP led governments the laws were on paper mostly. Over the span of five years the number of male calves, bulls and non-milking cows has multiplied and has been causing trouble in villages. Once the cow stops giving milk farmer themselves stop feeding them and let them loose somewhere far from their own village.
The issue has been a savor discussion during UP Elections among poor farmers of the state as five years of being in power and Yogi Government has only established Gaushalas that are said to be home to huge corruption. A farmer told that if you take your retired cattle to the gaushalas they will ask you to pay Rs 2000. Farmers also said that the officials in gaushalas don’t feed cattle and they are infected with corruption. People know that making more gaushalas will not be a long term solution to the problem. To win the confidence of people BJP Government will have to come up with a better solution to the problem.
