Aadhar for cattle? Centre proposes 'Unique Identification Number' for each cow, progeny

New Delhi: Amid a raging debate over cow vigilantism, the Central government has now proposed to give Aadhar-like unique identification number to cows in India.

The Centre has made this proposal to the Supreme Court, news agency ANI reported on Monday.

In its report to Supreme court, the Central government said, "Each cow and its progeny across India should get a Unique Identification Number for tracking."

The central government also recommended special care for cattle beyond age of milking, while stressing on launching of a scheme for distressed farmers.

In its report, the Centre also highlighted the issue of cow protection and smuggling of cattle across India-Bangladesh border.

Centre made this proposal on the basis of recommendations made by a committee headed by the Joint Secretary, Home Ministry.

The report also stated that each district should have a shelter home of capacity of at least 500 abandoned animals, which will help reduce smuggling of cattle across the country.

According to a previous report published in The Economics Times, the animal husbandry department had assigned technicians to affix a tag with a 12-digit unique identification number inside the ear of cows.

As per the report, nearly one lakh technicians have been armed with 50,000 tablets. Their mission is to affix a polyurethane tag on the ears of the cattle with a tag applicator.

The yellow-colored tag is fixed in the centre of the ear lobe.

Continuing with PM Narendra Modi's digital drive, the centre intends to reach out to almost 88 million cows and buffaloes this year.

These tags cost Rs 8 apiece and are light weighted.

Once the tag is fixed, the technician will use a tablet to update the number in an online database and also provide the cattle owner with an `animal health card' recording the UID number, owner's details, status of periodic deworming and vaccinations of the animal as well as breeding details.This will help track the cattle along with all relevant details.

The move will help in tagging and tracking cattle so that they are vaccinated on time and scientific intervention is made available for better breeding and increasing milk production, doubling income of dairy farmers in the process by 2022.

The Centre has set aside Rs 148 crore for procuring the tags, tag applicators, tablets and health cards, officials said.

It has also fixed targets for individual states to be completed within 2017.