The proposal for the linking of Aadhar card to cows was first in 2015, and now with the coming of Union Budget 2018-19, Rs 50 crore project has been taken up to cover 40 million cattle. The BJP government is all set to assign ‘unique identity card’ or UID to each of the country’s cows.
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A dairy department official, requesting anonymity, said the agriculture ministry, which will implement the programme, has already acquired the UID technology that comes with a cheap, tamper-proof polyurethane tag containing the cow’s biological details such as breed, age, sex, height and special body marks. Each card will cost between Rs 8 and Rs 10.
Another target of the government is to double the farmer’s salaries.In a budget speech seen as pro-poor, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced a Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund and an Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund worth Rs10,000 crore. About Rs200 crore has been set aside for an artificial insemination drive to improve cattle breeds, with an aim to “upgrade” the nation’s entire cattle population.
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In 2015, the UID was introduced for the cattles, keeping in mind about the cattle trafficking following the Supreme Court’s direction that heard a plea to stop cattle smuggling. A 2015, expert committee said that the owner is responsible for the registration of the UID for his cows. “Registration proof must be maintained by the owner of the cattle which may be transferred to the next owner in case a legitimate sale/transfer takes place,” it had stated.