Around 60 cows at a shed in Uttar Pradesh, whose chief minister has professed the protection of the “cow mother” as one of his priorities and set up a Rs 613-crore fund, have been starving as the government has stopped providing maintenance cash.

Villagers said the government stopped providing funds for the state-run cowshed in Baghpat district in February, forcing them to make arrangements for fodder and medicines themselves. The villagers said they themselves had been hit hard by the pandemic and the lockdown and had no money to spare to feed the cows.

“The state government used to pay Rs 30 per day per cow to the village panchayat. However, the funds stopped coming in February. For four months, we pooled in money and bought fodder for the cows. Now we are short of cash and want the government to either accept that it is anti-cow or start making arrangements for fodder and medicines,” said Raj Kumar, a villager who has been leading a protest against the drying up of funds.

The villagers on Tuesday and Wednesday organised protests near the temporary cowshed on the premise of the Government Veterinary Hospital at Kasimpur Kheri and threatened to leave the cattle at the local block office if the government did not take immediate steps.

The villagers alleged that the government was also dithering on constructing a permanent shed for the cows.

A government official at Baghpat, 600km west of Lucknow, said on condition of anonymity: “The local panchayat and the villagers had promised last year that they would help in running the cowshed. But now they are backtracking from their commitment. We have written to the government and expect some funds soon.”

The government, however, had not laid down any such condition while announcing the fund. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, while setting up the Rs 613-crore fund in 2019, had declared that the protection of the “cow mother” was his priority.

K.P. Malik, the local MLA in Baghpat, said he was aware of the problem at the cowshed. “We are trying to generate some funds for fodder. The problem will be solved soon,” he said.