Since Indian citizens are being allotted a unique identification number by the government, the country's best-loved animal's turn cannot be far behind.
The Centre has embarked on an ambitious mission to fix a tag with a 12-digit number inside the ears of each of 88 million cows and buffaloes in the country, The Economic Times reported. The idea is similar to the Aadhar scheme, except, in this case, the bovines won't have to queue up to get themselves registered.
Nearly one lakh technicians, armed with tablets, have been sent out across the country since New Year's Day with the mandate to track and tag cattle so that they can be vaccinated in time, their breeding cycles can be better monitored and the quantity as well as the quality of their milk production can be improved. The intention is to bring in significant growth in the dairy sector by 2022.
The tag, which costs about ₹8 a piece, will be fixed in the middle of the earlobe of the animal and an entry will be made in a database. After each such installation, a health card would be handed over to the owner who will be alerted periodically about vaccination, deworming and breeding cycles of the animals. ET said the Centre has allocated ₹148 crore to procure tags, tag applicators, tablets and health cards.
Earlier the government had flagged off a ₹594-crore project to introduce "sexsorted semen production technology" through machines at 10 semen stations across the country. The purpose is to have six million "genetically improved" female cattle every year by 2019 to make dairy farming financially more rewarding.
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