Gau Sewa Aayog comes under the State Animal Husbandry department and gives funds to cowsheds and organisations working for the welfare of cows

Nearly 86% of the grant sanctioned by the Samajwadi Party (SP) government for organisations working for cow welfare in Uttar Pradesh went to an NGO run by the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s sister-in-law Aparna Yadav, an RTI reply has revealed.

To a query by activist Nutan Thakur, the U.P. Gau Sewa Aayog replied that from 2012 to 2017, it sanctioned ₹9.66 crore, of which ₹8.35 crore (86.4%) went to Jeev Ashraya, the NGO run by Aparna Yadav.

Ms. Aparna is the wife of Prateek Yadav, the step-brother of Mr. Akhilesh Yadav. Her NGO runs a gaushala at Amausi in Lucknow district.

The Aayog comes under the State Animal Husbandry department and gives funds to guashalas (cowsheds) and organisations working for the welfare of cows.

In the reply, the Aayog’s Public Information Officer Sanjay Yadav said that during financial years 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, Jeev Ashraya was given ₹49.89 lakh, ₹1.25 crore and ₹1.41 crore, respectively.

In the financial year 2015-16, Jeev Ashray got ₹2.58 crore, while Sripad Baba Goshala in Vrindavan got ₹41 lakh, the RTI reply stated.

“In 2016-17, of the total grant of ₹3.45 crore, Jeev Ashraya got ₹2.55 crore, while among other four NGOs, Sripad Goshala got ₹63 lakh,” it stated.

However, during 2017-18, till now, ₹1.05 crore has been given to various gaushalas. But Jeev Ashraya was not one of the recipients. Dayodaya Goshala in Lalitpur got the highest amount, ₹63 lakh, it said.

Nutan Thakur is the wife of IPS officer Amitabh Thakur who had been running feud with the Samajwadi Party’s first family.

Ms. Aparna Yadav was not immediately available for comments.