The Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA), set up by the Narendra Modi government for the welfare of cows, is functioning without a chairman and none of the schemes recommended by it has been implemented since 2019, Parliament has been
informed.
“The post (of RKA chairman) has remained vacant since February 2022,” Rajiv Ranjan Singh, the minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying — under which the RKA operates — told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Singh also informed Parliament that the ministry had not implemented any scheme and hence the funds allocated to the RKA had been left untouched.
Singh was replying to a question on how the ₹500 crore earmarked for the RKA in
the budget for 2019-20 had been spent.
The RKA was constituted in February 2019 as an advisory body for the conservation, protection and development of cows and their progeny. It was also part of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, which aims to improve the milk production and productivity of cattle and buffaloes.
Former RKA chairman Vallabhbhai Kathiria’s tenure was mired in controversy. In October 2020, Kathiria had unveiled a “chip” made of cow dung and said it reduced radiation from mobile phones, a claim that had no scientific backing.