Priyanka vows to replicate Chhattisgarh scheme to solve stray cattle issue in UP

New Delhi: Hailing the Chhattisgarh model of livestock management, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said that if her party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh, it will adopt the Chhattisgarh government's scheme to buy cow dung to deal with the menace of stray cattle.

Referring to a recent speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wherein he promised voters that a new policy will be introduced after March 10 to tackle the issue of stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh, Vadra said that she is happy that he (Modi) "copied" the Congress' suggestion

Addressing a public meeting in Jagdishpur in Amethi, she said that the Congress-led Chhattisgarh government has shown how to solve this issue.

"It (Chhattisgarh government) started buying cow dung from people for Rs 2 per kilogram. Initially, people mocked this scheme. But then people started taking care of stray animals and sold cow dung to the government, which utilised it by giving it to self-help groups and by making vermicompost, fertiliser, gobar gas from it. The problem was solved," she said.

"If we form the government in UP, we will start this scheme here as well. Not only this, Rs 3,000 per acre compensation will be given to farmers for damages caused by stray animals," she said.

Vadra also reiterated the Congress' promise of ensuring 40 per cent reservation for women in government jobs, asserting that her party wants to empower women and not just dole out freebies.