Yogi Adityanath issued directions to officials in this regard in a high-level meeting he convened at his residence in Lucknow on August 20.

Having safely kept around 12 lakh stray cattle in 6,889 cow protection centres with necessary arrangements for their upkeep, the U.P. government will now set up electric crematoriums for these and other animals.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath issued directions to officials in this regard in a high-level meeting he convened at his residence here on Sunday to review management of stray cattle and state of milk production in the state.

“Ensure that no animal body is dumped in rivers,” he told officials adding, “For this, we will have to provide a system to people.” He said steps should be taken right away to set up electric crematoriums in all the municipal corporations for cremation of animals. “Crematoriums for animals should also be set up in other local urban bodies in a phased manner,” he added.

Yogi said that the government was acting with a sense of service for development and protection of the livestock in the state and asked officials to ensure that all cattle raisers and those raising other animals necessarily got the benefit of various government schemes run for them.

The CM further said efforts made for the protection of stray cattle were giving desired results with 11.89 stray cattle having been safely protected in 6,889 protection centres across the state.

Observing that large cow protection centres could be more useful, he directed officials to identify suitable locations at block and district levels to set up such centres with a capacity of keeping 4000-5000 cattle. “Also, see to it that each cow protection centre necessarily has a caretaker too,” he said with stress.

Pointing out that cattle protection was not possible without public participation, the CM said people’s help must be taken in this noble task and for this, he suggested, a definite financial contribution could be taken from willing families who should also be allowed to use milk available from cow. “The concerning department must prepare a clear policy in this regard,” he said.

The CM also asked officials to appoint a nodal officer in each district to supervise management of things at the cow protection centres send a monthly report to the government.

Yogi said UP was the top milk producing state in the country. He said more milk committees should be set up in the state to ensure a more remunerative price to dairy owners.