UP mulls issuing certificates to transport cows

In a bid to prevent incidents of lynching, Uttar Pradesh government was mulling issuing a certificate for transporting the cows from one place to another within and outside the state.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, while speaking at a meeting of the 'Gau Seva Ayog' (state cow commission) here on Monday, suggested that the Commission should issue certificates to the transporters for ferrying the cows.

He said that the Commission should also ensure the protection of those, who transported the cows after obtaining the certificates. ''Such measures will prevent incidents of lynching in the state,'' Adityanath said at the meeting.

The chief minister also asked the officials to consider payment of Rs 30 per day per cow to those, who kept cows, to enable them to meet the expenses incurred on purchasing hay and other stuff to feed the bovines.

He, however, said that this money should not be paid to those, who reared the cows for commercial purposes.

The direction of the government came in the wake of incidents of lynching in different parts of the state since the BJP government ordered the closure of illegal slaughterhouses.

There have been several incidents, when, those transporting the cows were thrashed and even lynched to death by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes.

The closure of a large number of slaughterhouses and refusal of the transporters to ferry the bovines has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of stray cattle, that had become a menace for the farmers in the state.