Yogi Adityanath government imposes cess on excise duty for cow shelters

Under the new policy for financing the construction and running of cow shelters, the state government has imposed a 2% cess on excise duty, apart from 0.5% cess on state-operated tolls

Latest News: Facing flak over stray cattle damaging crops and causing road accidents, the Yogi Adityanath government on Tuesday announced a new policy for temporary cow shelters in the urban and rural areas of Uttar Pradesh.

Following a ban on illegal cattle trade and abattoirs after the Adityanath government came to power in March 2017, the number of stray cattle has multiplied in UP. These abandoned animals not only cause extensive damage to crops but road accidents as well, which have claimed lives and injured many. Recently, hundreds of stray cows were locked inside a government school in Aligarh district by irate farmers, who claimed these animals were destroying their crops.

Click Here: Business Standard OR BS

Now under the new policy for financing the construction and running of cow shelters, the state government has imposed a 2% cess on excise duty, apart from 0.5% cess on state-operated tolls.Meanwhile, the 1% levy on the tax revenue of the UP agricultural marketing board or Mandi Parishad, which goes to the state panchayat bodies, has also been hiked to 2% for mopping up more financial resources towards the proposed cow shelter infrastructure.

Besides, 8 state public sector undertakings, including Setu Nigam (Bridge Corporation) and UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) will contribute 0.5% towards the cow shelter scheme from their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) kitty. These decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Adityanath….

Bulandshahr riot a conspiracy, so arrest anyone who slaughters a cow: UP CM

It was not clear whether any decision was taken to act against those responsible for killing of Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh

Politics: Amid a political furore over killing of a police inspector and a man in Bulandshahr in a case of mob violence, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Tuesday night ordered a thorough probe and directions were issued for strict action against those involved in the alleged cow slaughter, said to be the trigger for the brutal incident, a senior official said.

A day after the tragic incident, Adityanath held a meeting in Lucknow with chief secretary, DGP, principal secretary (home) and additional director general of police (intelligence).

The chief minister has already faced flak from the opposition parties for attending a laser show in Gorakhpur when the violence broke out in Bulandshahr on Monday. The Opposition has said that such incidents are part of attempts to incite communal unrest in the society ahead of polls.|Bulandshahr Violents

After the chief minister’s meeting, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Avinish Awasthi said, “The UP Chief Minister directed (officials) for a thorough probe in the incident. Instructions were also issued to take stringent action against people involved in cow slaughter. “The incident is part of a bigger conspiracy, and hence all those directly or indirectly related to cow slaughter should be arrested in a time-bound manner,” he said.

It was not clear whether any decision was taken to act against those responsible for killing of Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and 20-year-old bystander Sumit Kumar in the mob violence.

Click Here : Business Standard 

UP meat sellers on strike against Yogi's crackdown, restaurants to be hit

Operations have been disrupted completely for the past few days because of an atmosphere of fear

Meat sellers across Uttar Pradesh (UP) launched an indefinite strike from Monday against the Adityanath government's crackdown on illegal and mechanised slaughterhouses.

"We have decided to intensify our strike from tomorrow. All shops will remain closed. Fish sellers too have joined us and are extending support to us," Lucknow Bakra Gosht Vypar Mandal office bearer Mubeen Qureshi had said on Sunday.

He said, in the wake of the crackdown, there was no question of the strike being called off anytime soon. "It will go on indefinitely," he added.

Industry fears being butchered

Several butcher shops and slaughterhouses across the state have complained that they are being targeted under the new dispensation. “Authorities are even closing down chicken shops,” a shop owner in Noida told NDTV. Another said even legal abattoirs were asked to hang curtains in front of their stores, while others alleged that the new administration was not willing to issue fresh licenses or renew the old ones.

As reported earlier, operations have been disrupted completely for the past few days because of an atmosphere of fear across the supply chain, since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in the state after winning a historic mandate, with Yogi Adityanath as chief minister. One of the party’s election promises was shutting down illegal slaughterhouses.

So far, allegedly illegal meat shops have been shut down in Lucknow, Varanasi and Ghaziabad. Last week, three meat shops owned by Muslims were burned down in Hathras.

Eateries hit

Due to the strike, non-vegetarian food outlets, including the famous Tunday and Rahim's have shifted to mutton and chicken dishes after buffalo meat became scarce.

As the mouth-watering kebabs went off the platter, the owner of another famous eatery said the situation might force hoteliers to get mutton from Delhi. "But there will be no compromise on the quality of the food," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

At the same time, he supported the closure of illegal and mechanised slaughter houses in the state, saying it was difficult for a common man to pass through a locality where the slaughter houses were operating almost openly. He also alleged that the illegal abattoirs even indulged in slaughtering dogs.

Replying to a question, he said, "This is not a religious issue. In fact, it is directly linked to the health of people, who have the right to good quality of meat and fish."

( READ MORE....)