A non-governmental organisation run by former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s sister-in-law Aparna Yadav (pictured above) allegedly received 86% of the grant sanctioned by the previous Samajwadi Party government for organisations working for cow welfare in the state, PTI reported on Monday.
This was found in response to a Right to Information query filed by Nutan Thakur, wife of IPS officer Amitabh Thakur who has had a running feud with the Samajwadi Party’s first family.
The response to the RTI application revealed that the UP Gau Sewa Aayog gave Rs 8.35 crore of the sanctioned Rs 9.66 crore to Jeev Ashraya, the NGO run by Aparna Yadav.
The Gau Sewa Aayog comes under the jurisdiction of the state Animal Husbandry Department. It gives funds to cowsheds and organisations working for the welfare of cows.
Aparna is married to Akhilesh Yadav’s step brother Prateek Yadav. Her NGO runs a cow shelter in Amausi, Lucknow district. Jeev Ashraya was granted Rs 49.89 lakh, Rs 1.25 crore and Rs 1.41 crore during the financial years 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, Aayog’s Public Information Officer Sanjay Yadav revealed in the RTI reply.
Jeev Ashray got Rs 2.58 crore, while Sripad Baba Goshala in Vrindavan got Rs 41 lakh in the financial year 2015-16, the RTI reply stated. “In 2016-17, of the total grant of Rs 3.45 crore, Jeev Ashraya got Rs 2.55 crore, while among four other NGOs, Sripad Goshala got Rs 63 lakh.”
In the current financial year, various gaushalas were granted Rs 1.05 crore, but Jeev Ashraya was not one of the recipients. Lalitpur’s Dayodaya Goshala received the highest amount of Rs 63 lakh so far, the RTI reply said.
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