Holy cow in India: Problems and
Solutions
and
Holy-Cow or Gaumata Worship Tax
The Holy Cow or Deshi Gai or Gau-Mata
is vanishing fast in India, census after census proved it beyond doubt. Why it
is happening despite the Cow Protections Acts and laws almost in all parts of
the country? For a common man like me, it means different than to Gaubhakts
than to beef eaters than to Gausewaks and Gaushala owners. The common man needs
protein, if vegetarian get it from milk else from fish or meat, he hardly
thinks either milk is of goat, cow or buffalo or reconstituted or imported,
either A2 or A1, he needs milk. On the other side is the poor (majority) farmer
rearing animals for sustenance, not for fun or joy. There is a demand for milk;
there is a compulsion to produce milk and rear animals with the farmers then
where is the problem, why Holy cow is vanishing? In the process, consumers have
no say, producers have no say, it is the politics which says everything and
administration implement the policies without analysing it but to appease the
lords.
Can
we change the scenario? Yes, but only after understanding the situation.
Why
farmers are stopping cattle farming? Here is the term farming means
earning a livelihood through hard work, doing agriculture, livestock rearing,
fishery etc. It is much different than the worshipping the Mother cow, it
totally different than protecting the cows. Farming means sustenance and profit
of the farmer. Does this mean the Holy cow is a non-profitable animal (some
people may be angry on calling holy cow an animal), if yes why it became so?
Reasons of non-profitability of Holy
Cow Farming
1. Poor
Livestock quality: Despite the fact that Deshi Gai has proven its potential as the high
yielder throughout the world but in India. It might be due to the fact that in
the last few centuries Indians were rarely scientific in their approach either
it is animal farming or in day to day life, though we claim very high. In
India, we worshipped the cow so we can’t apply the eugenics; the defectives
were worshipped for being Divyang, instead of considering defects as hindrances
productivity, inability to work, inability to self-sustain defects are given
status of special powers poured into the handicapped body and we named those as
Divyang (a body with an organ which is Divine or with Divine Luster or Heavenly
or Brilliant or Extraordinary). What the difference it made? Those who were
normal were put to hard work to nourish the Divayangs. It is not the
imagination; you may see several people who are ready to be Divyang, ready to
fetch the Certificate for Divyang as everyone in India wants to be either
certified backwards or certified scheduled caste/ tribe and there are thousands
of examples when people get those certificates after bribing the certificate
granting authorities. We are running a rat race to be backward/ Divyang rather
then to be able. It is out of context to discuss it further. Coming back to
eugenics, the concept never applied in India, thus we gathered all dust and
dirt and donated/ exported/ sold our best. So the first cause of
non-profitability of Holy cow is poor livestock quality, low productivity and
low feed/food conversion ratio.
Solution: Selective breeding (eugenics application) for breed improvement.
Changing the mindset of people to be backward/ Divyang i.e. social engineering
is required.
2. Poor
Nutrition: Another important cause of non-profitability, it is simple to
understand when you have limited resources but many resources consumers then
the availability of resources goes down. It is a vicious circle. Farmers are
not able to get rid of non-productive, un-economic to maintain, unhealthy to
rear, unfit to put for any other use due to Holy cow, Mother Cow Stigma and not
get good and many a time reasonable returns even when the farmer wants to sell
excess stock. In progressing mechanization era in agriculture bullock power is
not useful and male calves are now not converted into bullock power nor can
they are put for another use (due to their Holiness). Thus the farmer is forced
to rear or rather maintain the livestock in nutrition deficient state, i.e., no
or low production, again a vicious cycle.
Solution: Development of mechanism to get rid of the excess of animals
especially non-productive, non-profitable and useless. For males we have to
create work like electric generators operated with bullock power, even
non-productive female can also be put for the same. Techniques for sexed semen
must be developed indigenously for the economy. Sexed embryo implantation may
be another option to reduce the non-profitable stock.
3. Diseases and Reproductive problems: It is either human or animal or our environment,
India is the house of diseases despite the billion dollar disease control
programs. Almost 50% of the cows become non-conceiver (repeat breeders) by the
end of 3rd lactation. Many of the devastating diseases in
cattle can be prevented using timely vaccination. But the irony of the system
is that there is no model farm even in the best veterinary institutions of
India free of such diseases having all expertise and investment. For several diseases
where vaccination is available Indian farmer is unable to avoid losses due to
one or other reason. The estimates of
losses due to different diseases in our society are not easy to estimate
because we love to hide the diseases as the other problems to show us brave and
happy. Diseases in our society are reported only when the glass is full and
then the impact of spillover is measured. The direct losses estimated based on
spillover reports indicated that average annual economic losses due to HS, FMD,
Brucellosis, PPR, classical swine fever was in tune of Rs. 5255 crores (2014),
Rs. 20000 crores (2016), Rs. 20400 crores (2015), Rs. 2417 crores (2016), and
Rs. 429 crores (2016), respectively. It indicated that farmers incur almost Rs.
50,000 crores direct loss every year due to the five fully preventable (with
vaccination) diseases and government of India along with state government spend
equally good amount of funds on vaccination and almost one lakh crore rupees
are wasted every year due to our legacy to hide the disease, due to substandard
vaccines, inefficient vaccination, ill-education of livestock farmers and above
all the political will.
Solution: Adopting an
effective new Vaccine and vaccination policy (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332263494_Proposal_for_Vaccine_and_Vaccination_Policy_for_Control_of_Animal_Diseases_in_India)
where defaulters can be punished and performers can be rewarded. Isolation and
culling of diseased animals, especially those suffering from or carrying
communicable diseases like brucellosis, Tuberculosis, Johne’s disease etc.
Though regulations are there, are hardly ever implemented.
4. Conflicting Acts and
Lawlessness: In different parts of the country several contradictory laws exist which
make then difficult to be implemented by the administrators. In context to Holy
cow, the best example is the three important Acts, Prevention of Cow Slaughter
Acts, The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Prevention of Cow
slaughter Acts and The Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious
Diseases in Animals Act, 2009. One Act permits to cull and destroy diseased
animals while other force to protect them and keep them as a continuous source
of infection. Over the time such Acts are becoming tools for the destruction of
cows in hands of beef mafias, law enforcement agencies, politicians and
communal leaders hungry for money and power. The issues related to legal
conflicts are discussed earlier (https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6638451428693957679#editor/target=post;postID=4613214866487405200;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=6;src=postname; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326983108_How_Prevention_of_Cow_Slaughter_Act_Becoming_Safe_Abode_for_Killers_of_Holy_Cow_in_India).
Solutions: Political will and scientific approach towards conflicting acts can
solve the riddle.
5. Better options
available: The option is available to Indian farmer in form of the best
buffalo of the world (Murra buffalo), now contribution to >55% of total milk
production in India and almost 90% beef (actually buffen) production. The rich
milk of buffalo fetches a good price, the male also gets a rewarding price for
their utility as a meat animal. In the last few years FMD has been reported more
devastating in cows than in buffaloes, cases of mastitis and repeat breeding
and infertility are also less. Spent buffalo has value and can thrive better in
changing the environment of global warming. In coming years buffalo may slowly
replace Gua Mata, mockingly Mahishi will replace Mata.
Solution: Though Mata can’t be made Mahishi, Mata can be given the utility.
There are only two ways, first is, Wipe out the stigma of Holy Cow. In all the
countries where best cows are there and worshipped for their production there
is no ban on cow slaughter, i.e., we can also lift the ban on slaughter of
non-productive cattle, useless male cattle. The second option is, make
the cow and cow progeny useful.
How can we make cow useful?
Certainly not through propagating divine virtues of Gaumutra, or
PanchGavy, but only through practical approaches like:-
a. Putting useless, non-productive male
cow progeny and also the non-productive cows to work either to the old
fashioned water lifts, Chakkies, mills and machines operated through muscle
energy or putting then to generate electrical energy.
b. Composting each and every bit of dung
and urine to enrich the soil.
c. Promotion for organic
farming requiring compost.
The alternate
Implementing the Holy-Cow or Gaumata Worship Tax: Those who love and
worship the holy cows or want to do so can be asked to pay tax for maintaining
sick, disable, aged and dying cows in Gaushalas or Gausadans. It should be
voluntary and should be substantial as 5-10% of the income. It will help to maintain
Gaushalas or Gausadans in one way in another way create the belongingness and
in yet another way may reveal the number of real Gaubhakts, many of them have
become for political gain and many of them for time pass. Though it appears a
deviant idea but may be quite constructive.
No comments:
Post a Comment