Lucknow: To the world, differences between former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his step brother’s wife, Aparna Yadav, may have been deep-rooted but an RTI query has revealed that it was Aparna Yadav’s NGO that benefitted the most in the Akhilesh regime.
According to the response to a RTI query posted by activist Nutan Thakur, the state government has disclosed that during the Akhilesh Yadav regime, 86 per cent of the total grant given by Uttar Pradesh Go Sewa Ayog to Goshala and cow protection organisations in the state, was given to Aparna Yadav’s ‘Jeev Ashraya’, an NGO, which runs the Kanha Upwan Goshala , owned by Lucknow Nagar Nigam.
As per data, between 2012 to 2017, the Ayog gave a total grant of Rs 9.66 crore, of which Rs 8.35 crore were given to Jeev Ashraya only, which is 86.4 per cent of total grant.
During financial years 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, Jeev Ashraya was the only NGO to be given this grant to the tune of Rs. 50 lakh, Rs 1.25 crore and Rs 1.41 crore respectively.
In financial year 2015-16, Jeev Ashraya got Rs. 2.58 crores while Sripad Baba Goshala, Vrindavan got Rs. 41 lakh and in 2016-17, of the total grant of 3.45 crores, Jeev Ashraya got Rs. 2.55 crores.
It may be recalled that immediately after the formation of the Yogi Adityanath government, Aparna Yadav and her husband Prateek Yadav had met the chief minister and had invited him to visit the Kanha Upvan.
The chief minister, two days later, visited the cow shelter and appreciated the work being done by the couple. Despite efforts, Aparna Yadav could not be contacted for her comments on the disclosures.
