Holy cow in India: Problems and Solutions and Holy-Cow or Gaumata Worship Tax

Holy cow in India: Problems and Solutions

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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 3^rd 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.