In 2019, Mr. Modi’s government established the National Cow Commission with the express purpose of protecting cows. Its website lists, among other objectives, “the proper implementation of laws regarding the prohibition of slaughter and / or cruelty to cows”. Many, but not all, Indian states prohibit the slaughter of cattle.
The study material for the new course was prepared by the cow committee, which is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Livestock and Dairy, and has been widely disseminated online in several languages, including English. The first online exam was supposed to be Thursday.
The material contains chapters on cow entrepreneurship and sayings from the Hindu scriptures. The course investigates breed improvement, cow dung bioenergy, pesticides, cow urine medicines, the concept of promoting cow tourism, using cow dung instead of plaster for ecological reasons and the difference between Indian and foreign cows . The commission is chaired by Vallabhbhai Kathiria, a surgeon and former member of Parliament of the Bharatiya Party Janata de Modi.
The Indian cow, or zebu, differs from family breeds of cows in the West. The zebu, easily recognized by its large bulge on the shoulder and pronounced dewlap, is more tolerant to heat and drought and more resistant to some diseases, although it produces less milk.
The material that the students were asked to absorb for the exam, however, made unsubstantiated claims, such as that inside the hump of the Indian cow “there is a solar pulse that absorbs vitamin D from the sun’s rays and releases it into your body. “Jersey” cows without a hump, the material said, do not have these powers.
Another part of the curriculum said that indigenous cows were “emotional with humans and other living beings”, but that in foreign cows “none of these feelings were exhibited”. Indian cows are “alert” and “strong”, the material said, but foreign cows are “lazy”.