Asked what prompted the scheme, Sahib Singh told The Indian Express, "Our beloved mother, the cow is being pushed around on the streets of Delhi."

The project will kick-off in Mundka which, coincidentally is the CM's native village, and the Delhi Government has already acquired 169 acres for it.

Lucky dairy farmers will be provided a 1,000 sqm plot at a meager Rs 2 lakh. The government has already received 5,200 applications and collected Rs 5,000 as application fee from each. The scheme will start on July 31.

Singh, however, insists he was not doing anything special for Mundka and considers all of Delhi "my native village". The dairy farmerswill get a dwelling unit, and the colony will developed like any residential colony by the Delhi government.

The Delhi government appears to be undeterred by the failure of a similar scheme a decade ago, when sprawling dairy colonies were given away free in places like Jharoda, Gazipur, and Madanpur. Within months, the land use of the dairy colonies changed and huge tracts of land turned into residential colonies.

D S Negi, development commissioner of the Delhi government, who is overseeing the project, admits the earlier scheme was a failure but says the new colonies were needed to solve the stray cattle menace of Delhi. He says the Bhagvan Shree Krishna Yojna was the brainchild of the chief minister. "We do not have any specific safeguards but we trust the farmers will not misuse the allotment this time," he assures.

It is understood that during meetings with the chief minister, several senior civic officials opposed the setting up of the dairy colonies. They pointed to the misuse of the first scheme.The farmers who were given dairy units sold them. They also cited the acute shortage of land and residential complexes in the Capital. Such objections were, however, overruled by Singh. The scheme was given formal clearance by the Cabinet in May.

Singh pointed out the BJP government's reverence to "holy mother Cow" and their determination to ensure its safety.

The initial "trial" dairy colony will be set up in Jagatpur village, along the outer ring road, which happens to be the constituency of Food and Civil Supply Minister, Lal Bihari Tewari. This will be followed by the pilot project in Mundka, once the "teething troubles" are ironed out.

Negi says other areas where land will be acquired for the dairy colonies are northeast, west, east, southwest, and central districts which include Tikri and Jharoda villages.

Singh issued an order to the MCD last month that they concentrate all their resources and clear stray cattle from the Civil Lines area, where he stays.

Singh has stated that since the MCD isunable to achieve the target he has set of seizing 3,000 cattle per month, the civic agency should at least clear the Civil Lines on an "emergency basis".