 "Punjab dairy farmers gearing up for mass protests against cow protection squads")
Dairy farmers in Punjab are gearing up for mass protests against the cow vigilantes, as they are allegedly being harassed in the name of cow protection.
Dairy is one of the most lucrative allied agriculture activity in Punjab and farmers earn a major part of income from breeding of high-yielding Holstein Friesian cow. The proliferation of self-styled cow protection squads in the past two years has put the Punjab dairy sector in a jeopardy.
According to the Punjab Progressive Dairy Farmers Association (PPDFA), dairy generates an income of about Rs 2,500 crore a year in the state. The major chunk of income is earned through sale of cattle, as the recovery from milk is not very profitable.
The constitution of the Gau Raksha Board in Punjab in January 2014 by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government has allegedly resulted in mushrooming of cow protection squads. The state government during this period made it mandatory to procure no-objection certificate (NOC) from the district authorities and the Cow Protection Board to transport cow outside Punjab. The process of NOC is so cumbersome and time-consuming that some unscruplous traders transport the cattle illegitimately by bribing the cow vigilantes. But, a large section of traders refrains from corrupt activities, thus, the total trade has fallen from 300,000 cows a year to only 60,000-70,000 cow a year. Earnings per animal have also gone down from Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 50,000-60,000.
The bigger issue that has concerned the farmers’ community is the growing number of stray cattle. A drastic fall in the number of buyers has created a glut of cattle in the dairy farms. With limited space and means to support larger number of animals, the menace of stray animals in rural and urban areas has been disrupting traffic and social life.
PPDFA President Daljit Singh told they have now decided to storm the official residences of senior leaders of SAD-BJP and gift them stray animals to make them understand the gravity of situation.
He told Punjab has close to 1.2 million milking cows and 800,000 cows reproduce every year. The number of female calves are exported out of Punjab annually ranges between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh. For the past two years, there has been a sharp decline in cattle sold out of the state, so, farmers on the one hand are earning less and facing the challenge of up-keeping abundance of cattle.
Framers have demanded the dissolution of the Gau Raksha Board and replacement of NOC with a veterinarian’s health certificate for cattle transportation.
A senior farmer leader said cow slaughter is not practised in Punjab and this does not make a business sense for traders from different parts of India to buy and kill expensive high-milk-yielding cows. The state government should revisit its decision to save the financial and social implications of such practices.
