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Twitter Calls Out Yogi Adityanath Govt's New 'Gau Kalyan' Cess

The government reportedly passed the policy to deal with the stray cattle problem in the state and build shelters for stray cattle.
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The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh cabinet cleared a policy on Tuesday to introduce a 0.5% gau kalyan (cow protection) cess on excise items like toll tax and alcohol.

The Times of India reported that while the UP government is yet to decide on which excise items the cess will be levied on, the policy is likely to be implemented this week.

The government reportedly passed the policy to deal with the stray cattle problem in the state and build shelters for stray cattle.

Uttar Pradesh has seen people abandoning ailing or old cattle amid lynchings by cow vigilantes.

However, the news of the cess has drawn severe criticism from Twitter users. People pointed out that in a state where infrastructure and law and order were in shambles, the government was concentrating on cattle.

Others said that this was just another ploy by the BJP before the elections to get votes.

In Rajasthan, the BJP government which was recently voted out of power, had imposed a 10% cow cess as surcharge on stamp duty in April 2017.

Here are some of the reactions:

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.