Gonda, Dec 1 (IANS): The Gonda district administration in Uttar Pradesg has invited all arms licence holders in the district to join the Sahbhagita Yojana under which the state government pays a monthly sum to persons who agree to keep cows from shelters under the scheme for cow protection.

In a targeted drive, the Gonda administration will reach out to all arms licence holders and ask them to participate in the scheme.

Gonda District Magistrate Neha Sharma said the results under Sahbhagita Yojana had not been very encouraging till now which led officials to think about how to make it successful.

“When thinking of possible stakeholders, we narrowed in on arms licence holders. As per our experience, one has an arms licence either for security or for prestige. Such persons also come from a certain affluent background. The few people we have spoken to have agreed to the scheme,” Sharma said.

She added that it would not be compulsory for arms licence holders to keep cows but through the targeted approach, the state government was hoping for better results.

Meetings would be held with licence holders to sensitise them to them issue.

Currently, there are 25,000 cattle in Gonda’s shelters, while 2,000 are with citizens under the Sahbhagita Yojana.

There are 12,042 arms licence holders in the district. They will be offered one animal each and one can keep a maximum of four animals.

The government will give Rs 1,500 per animal to the person who adopts them.

A state government spokesperson said that a certificate of cow adoption might be made compulsory at the time of applying for a new licence or renewal of license.