On 5 January, the government announced that it will be holding a national-level voluntary online exam on ‘gau vigyan‘ or cow science, reported news agency PTI. The exam will be held on 25 February. It will be conducted by the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Ayog (RKA), which comes under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The purpose of this exam is to generate more awareness and interest in indigenous cows and qualities.
Here’s how social media users reacted to it:
These include treatment of diseases like eczema, arthritis and leprosy using cow products, link between cow slaughter and earthquakes, and the superiority of native cows over exotic ones with the former being ‘more emotive’ than the latter.
The 54-page PDF document – on the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog’s website – has provided little evidence and even fewer citations to back these claims.
‘Gaumata’ vs Exotic Cows
The document argues that a native cow is better than an exotic or a jersey cow. To establish this, it relies on disputed claims like the milk of a native cow is ‘yellow in colour because it contains traces of gold’ and infants when administered with the milk of jersey cows ‘suffer from diseases like autism, diabetes, and sudden death syndrome.’
In this 2016 report by The Wire, several experts argued that extant biological knowledge does not allow for synthesis of inorganic materials like metals in a living, organic body. Further, there are no studies to prove that milk of exotic cows can be fatal for infants.
The reference material provided by the body also makes a case that desi cows are better than the exotic ones because they are more emotive. “Whenever any unknown person comes near a desi cow, she will immediately stand whereas, a jersey cow displays no emotion,” it reads.
It also adds that Indian cows are clever enough “to not sit at dirty places. It also adapts itself as per the climate and can withstand extreme weather” which is not the case with exotic cows.
Source: The Quint
