Ranchi, Nov. 8: Lohardaga district will host a cow show to mark statehood day celebrations on November 14 and 15, enthused by the turnaround in BPL families through the dairy development project scheme in a place where some of Jharkhand's most malnourished children stay.
On a high for distributing cows among poor families to combat malnutrition and rural poverty together, Lohardaga has its immediate neighbour in Latehar, where two minority cattle traders were killed apparently by rightwing cow protection groups in March, the distinction between cattle rearing and trading strictly, if controversially, drawn.
In Lohardaga, DC Bhuvnesh Pratap Singh is gearing up for a show where owners of champion cows - judged on various parameters like health and milk yield - would be rewarded to motivate other villagers to rear cattle.
"The cow show will reveal the changing face of villages, where malnutrition is a big menace. Milk production plays a key role in fighting malnutrition," Singh, the DC of a district where every sixth child is severely malnourished, said.
District dairy development officer Shridev Mandal said 350 cows were distributed, mostly among BPL women, in Lohardaga last fiscal. This fiscal, the aim is to distribute 400 cows.
The state government allows BPL families to purchase a cow of their choice through agencies authorised by the dairy development directorate. Each cow is priced at Rs 45,000, of which the state pays 90 per cent and Jharkhand Milk Federation, a cooperative society of milk producers, the rest.
One of the game-changers is Premavati Bilung (55), a tribal woman of Pandra panchayat in Kudu area, who took up cattle rearing three years ago. Now, on an average, she earns Rs 100 to Rs 200 everyday, which she finds a windfall.
"We have always taken care of cattle owned by richer people. Last year, the government gave me a cow free of cost. Now I own three cows and some calves. Each cow yields 10 to 12 litre milk per day," she said over phone.
Bilung's life is not picture-perfect. Though she is excited about showing off her cows for statehood day, she is worried about their transport to Lohardaga town and that she would not be able to sell milk for two days.
Her biggest worry remains cattle feed. "It is not available at BAIF outlets (a Maharashtra-based cooperative present in Jharkhand since 2005) since six months. The price of cattle feed provided by Sudha Dairy is suddenly too costly and what's available in the local market is very poor," she said.
Bilung's success story however hides the biggest dilemma that she and other dairy farmers face in a fearful climate of cow vigilantism. No one knows where their cows will go when they get old.
Statehood day celebrations in capital Ranchi promise to be grand, with a plethora of events at Birsa Munda Football Stadium on November 15, where Union minister for road transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari will be the chief guest. Momentum Jharkhand logo of a flying elephant will also be released.
On November 12 evening, chief minister Raghubar Das will flag off a train to launch Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana, a pilgrimage scheme for BPL senior citizens.
