The Cabinet minister said that he was shocked to find misappropriation of funds meant for the welfare of cows during the previous government.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a probe into the alleged misuse of cow welfare funds by an NGO run by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's step-brother Prateek Yadav and sister-in-law Aparna Yadav between 2012 and 2016.
Cabinet Minister for Dairy Development Laxmi Narayan Choudhary made an announcement in this regard. "The government will order an inquiry into the allegations of allocation of maximum funds by Gau Sewa Ayog to Aparna Yadav's NGO during Akhilesh Yadav's tenure," Chowdhary said.
The Cabinet minister said that he was shocked to find misappropriation of funds meant for the welfare of cows during the previous government. "How can the former chief minister allocate 86.4 per cent funds to an NGO that belongs to his family member?" he asked.
"It is a matter of serious concern and needs to be probed thoroughly. We will fix responsibility and accountability and if the charges are found to be true, then the money will be recovered from the erring officials and the NGO," Chowdhary added.
An RTI plea by social activist Nutan Thakur had revealed that of a total of Rs 9.66 crore released as grants by the Gau Sewa Ayog between 2012-2107, Rs 8.35 crore alone was given to Jeev Ashray, an NGO run by Aparna and Prateek Yadav.
Interestingly, Akhilesh sanctioned funds to only Aparna-Prateek's NGO in financial years 2012-13, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 which was to the tune of Rs 50 lakhs, Rs 1.25 crore and Rs 1.41 crore respectively. In 2015-16, the grant to the Ngo was increased to Rs 2.58 crore and Rs 2.55 crore in 2016-17 out of total grant of Rs 3.45 crore.
Intriguingly, once Akhilesh Yadav was out of power in March 2017, Jeev Ashray was not given a penny as government grant in current financial year 2017-18. A total of Rs 1.08 crore have so far been released by the Yogi government but Aparna-Prateek failed to milk government grants in the name of cow welfare under the present regime.
Aparna-Prateek's NGO jeev Ashray runs 'Kanha Upvan', a gaushala belonging to the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) in Sarojaninagar near Lucknow Airport.
The 54-acre prime land was turned into a home for sick and stray animals during Mayawati regime. On a proposal of then Urban development minister Mohd Azam Khan, Akhilesh Yadav had leased out the Rs 1500 crore land to his close kins Prateek and Aparna.
The NGO had used LMC funds to construct sheds and a small hospital. To save the land going out of their hands and cover up misappropriation of government funds after change of regime, Aparna and Prateek had invited Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at Kanha Upvan on March 31, 2017.
Nutan Thakur, wife of IPS officer Amitabh Thakur, said that it was a clear case of favouritism and nepostim in which former Chief Minister Akhilesh allowed his close kins to splurge on government's funds.
"The matter should be probed and government should cancel the lease deed of the land allotted to the NGO in question," demanded Surya Pratap Singh, a retired IAS officer.
Both Prateek Yadav and Aparna Yadav have kept a stoic silence on the issue which is hogging media headlines for the past few days. Calls made to their office and residences were not returned.
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