Aurangabad: Claiming to be descendants of Lord Krishna, residents of a village in Hingoli district of Maharashtra do not sell milk. Instead the residents of the village give away the produce for free to anyone who is in need.
Farmers and opposition leaders in Maharashtra agitated for a hike in milk prices earlier this month. However, residents of ‘Yelegaon Gawali’ village, where most of the households own cattle, have never sold milk.
“The name ‘Yelegaon Gawali’ itself means a village of milkmen. We consider ourselves descendants of Lord Krishna. Hence, we don’t sell milk,” said Rajabhau Mandade (60), one of the residents of the village.
Ninety per cent of the houses in the village have cows and some have goats too. However, none of the residents sell milk and the tradition has been followed for generations. In case of excess production, different milk products are made. None of those are sold, but are distributed for free to people in need, the villager informed.
“The festival of Janmashtami is celebrated on a large scale in the village, which has a Krishna temple. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, all functions have been cancelled this time,” stated Mandade.
The sarpanch of Yelegaon, Shaikh Kausar (44) said the tradition of not selling milk has been followed by all villagers irrespective of their religion.
“None of the villagers, whether Hindus, Muslims or those belonging to any other religion sell milk,” Kausar informed
