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Journalism of Courage
Narchha village in Orai (SC reserved) Assembly constituency of Jalaun district has found a unique solution for the stray cattle menace that has been keeping Bundelkhand farmers awake at night. They have hired an extended family of Muslims, from another village, to guard their fields and herd the stray cattle to gaushalas, in exchange for a quintal of wheat per year.
It has been three years since the arrangement began, says Mohammad Haseem (38), who belongs to nearby Anjari village. Haseem now lives with brother-in-law Mohammad Ameen, mother-in-law Ajooban (58) and two sister-in-laws in Narchha village, which is located just off the Yogi Adityanath government’s showpiece Bundelkhand Expressway.
“We guard around 50 bighas of land. In return, we get one quintal of wheat annually from the farm owners,” says Ameen, adding that while the women make the rounds of the farms during the day time, Haseem and he guard the fields at night.
While thankful for the extra money, Ameen says this was hardly why he voted for the BJP in 2017, “trusting its slogan of sabka saath, sabka vikas”. “The Yadavs dominated over the poor like us in the SP government. But the BJP did not meet our expectations of bringing equality and ensuring permanent livelihood. We get free rations, but that is insufficient for my large family,” says Ajooban.
If the BJP has some things going for it, it is the extra free rations since Covid, money under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme, better power supply and improved law and order. However, no conversation is complete without the mention of stray cattle.
Villagers say while they earlier too dealt with “chutta janwar”, the problem has got worse in the past five years since the Adityanath government cracked down on cattle slaughter.
Around a year back, a gaushala (cowshed) was built at Narchha village to house the cattle. However, says Virendra Kumar, a graduate who helps his family in the fields: “It only has weak cows. We are unable to catch and control physically strong cattle like bulls. It is they who roam free and destroy the crops. We have done fencing but animals like Neelgai break through these too.”
Farmer Adesh Singh Rajpoot, of Nawalpur village in Auraiya constituency and an Adityanath supporter, admits there is a problem but adds: “Yogiji will find some solution in his next term.”
However, there appears some concern within the government over the cattle menace singeing it. Pradhan of adjoining Panhar village Aneeta Rajpoot set up a temporary cowshed on the premises of the anganwadi centre a month ago following instructions from the administration. Her husband Sunil Rajpoot, who “represents” her, says: “There was a direction from the panchayat department to set up the cowsheds. The pradhan ji is making arrangements to feed them. The government is providing Rs 30 per day for each animal. Coding has been done of each cattle and their codes sent to the government.”
Sunil says the Panhar cowshed has around 14 cows and calves, its full capacity. “We are not keeping bulls because they can harm calves and run away breaking bamboo barricades.”
Ajay Pal Singh, the BJP election office in-charge in Bidhuna constituency, also in Auraiya district, admits farmers keep questioning party leaders over chutta janwar. BJP leaders have a simple answer for this, he says. “We tell them, raat ka janwar se din ka janwar zyada nuksandeh hai (animals at daytime are more destructive than the animals at night)… Goons looted people in broad daylight under the SP regime. They took away money, jewellery, molested women… Animals can be controlled.”
However, while Rakesh Sharma, who runs a dhaba on the Kanpur-Jhansi highway, buys the law and order claims, he warns such reasoning no longer cuts ice with the suffering farmers. “If the BJP loses elections in rural areas, it will be only because of stray cattle.”
Kamlesh Kumar in Khanna village of Mahoba Assembly constituency also warns the same. A weekly market that used to run outside the village for sale of cattle for slaughter is now shut, and the animal numbers are just multiplying. “Government bhi kitna control kar payegi (How much can the government control either),” he says.
A chipping away of the rural vote could hurt the BJP. It was only in 2017 that the party, earlier concentrated in mostly the urban seats in 2012 and 2007, made its first inroad into villages.
The Opposition is trying to turn the anger over cattle to its advantage. The Congress manifesto puts the number of stray cattle in the state at more than 12 lakh, and promises to compensate farmers for loss of crops, introduce a scheme to procure cow dung, and to set up a cowshed in each panchayat.
The Samajwadi Party has promised financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for those killed in bull accidents. Surendra Pal Singh, an SP worker from Charkhari Assembly seat, says: “Once the SP wins, effective measures will be taken to give relief to farmers from stray cattle.”
The BSP has not released any manifesto, but its Charkhari candidate, Vinod Rajpoot, has distributed his own 17-point ‘vachan patra’. One of its promises is to make appropriate arrangements for cattle so that “crops can be protected and farmers can sleep at home at night”.
