chandan das
Jamshedpur, May 3: Even as the debate on atrocities perpetrated by cow vigilantes in different saffron pockets of the country rages on, BJP-ruled Jharkhand has launched a pilot project to provide an Aadhaar-like unique identification number to all cattle in the state. However, questions are already being raised about the viability of such a project given the numerous anomalies related to Aadhaar itself.
The Jharkhand State Implement Agency for Cattle and Buffalo (JSIACB) has already provided 12,000 cattle with tamper-proof polyurethane tags bearing the specific features of each animal, collected from their horns and tails, during the last one year with a view to prevent transportation and smuggling to Bangladesh and Nepal for slaughter. While cattle smuggled to Bangladesh are prized for their flesh and hide, in Nepal they are sacrificed at the Gadhimal festival, organised once in five years.
The pilot project, undertaken by the Centre’s Information Network for Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH), is running in a number of districts in Jharkhand including Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Giridih, Godda, Lohardagga and Deogarh. According to INAPH Jharkhand nodal in-charge, K K Tiwary, the project aims to provide the unique tags to around 18 lakh cattle in the state by the end of the current fiscal.
Tiwari told Orissa POST over telephone, “Each of the 12K animals has been allocated with a 12-digit UID number embedded in a tamper-proof polyurethane tag, which is fixed around its ears and contains records of the animal’s age, sex, breed, colour, body type, height, lactation (in case of females), horn type, tail switch and special mark. We will soon upload the data on the state government’s website, which will subsequently be linked to the national database.”
“As per the 19th livestock census, 2012, Jharkhand has 99.16 lakh head of cattle and 70 per cent among them are cows. The novel initiative aims to prevent illegal cattle transport, monitor their health as well as improve the milk yield,” JSIACB chief executive officer Dr Govind Prasad said. The project, he added, would gradually spread to all 24 districts of the state, creating a comprehensive database of cattle within three years.
Incidentally, Jharkhand’s novel initiative commenced much before the Centre sought permission from the Supreme Court to implement a similar project with the same set of objectives. While other state governments are still contemplating as to how to go about the project, Jharkhand has stolen a march ahead.
What comes as a shock to the state government, however, is that around 2.4K cattle, tagged with the UID numbers, have gone missing! Large-scale cattle theft has been reported from the remote rural areas of Dumka, Godda, Giridih, Dhanbad and even Ranchi. According to reports, theft of UID-tagged cattle has been reported from Chandankiyari, Peterwar and Nawadhi blocks in Bokaro; Poriayahat, Basantrai and Pathargama blocks in Godda; Birni, Pirtarnd, Tisri and Jamua blocks of Giridih; and Itki, Chano and Lupund blocks of Ranchi district. All the affected villages lie in the remote regions, some dominated by Maoists. Continued on P5