The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to conduct a comprehensive census of cows to find out the actual number of them and then plan accordingly for their welfare. This step has been taken to get rid of the endless problem of abandoned or stray cattle in the state.

The Uttar Pradesh government has given instructions to conduct a census of cows in three categories for promotion and conservation of cows in the state.
Which includes determining the number of abandoned animals with cattle herders, Kanha Upvan and animals left on the roads. After counting these cows, their geo-tagging should be done.
- These cows will be counted in the first phase of the census.
- After this, in the second phase, an action plan related to these will be prepared and work will be done on it, so that the cows can get proper place.
- In the third phase, the state government is conserving cows through 'Kanha Upvan'.
While ensuring the protection of cows roaming on the roads, the government is also addressing concerns to prevent inconvenience to common people and farmers.
It has been told by the government that at present 11.89 lakh cows are protected at 6889 destitute animal breeding sites.
Along with these, the Chief Minister Partnership Scheme runs for cow protection has also yielded good results.

‘Mukhyamantri Sahbhagita Yojana’:

So far, more than 1.85 lakh cows have been handed over to Gau Sevaks under the ‘Mukhyamantri Sahbhagita Yojana’.
The amount provided from the present rate of Rs 30 per cow for the maintenance of cows to destitute cow shelters and all the families serving cows, was increased to Rs 50 per cow.
In this context, it is believed that the data related to the number of cattle has changed since the 20th Livestock Census conducted by the Central Government in 2019. The next census is to be held in 2024.

Important facts related to 2019 Livestock Census:

According to the 2019 livestock census, the total number of cattle in Uttar Pradesh is a little more than 1.90 crore. 62,04,304 milch cows and 23,36,151 dry cows were found.
In the same census, the number of stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh was found to be 11.84 lakh. However, the number of stray cattle has increased markedly since then considering the fact that, at present, 11.89 lakh stray cattle, both male and female, are already protected in 6,889 destitute cattle breeding sites.
Additionally, 1.85 lakh cows have been handed over to the people under the ‘Mukhyamantri Sahbhagita Yojana’.
Stray cattle have been a major issue since the Yogi Adityanath government first came to power in 2017.
A new two-month campaign was launched on November 1 to capture all stray cattle and send them to cow protection centres.