Himanta Biswa Sarma said that cow shelters will be opened in tea garden areas to keep cattle safe
To increase the population of milk-giving cows in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the state will start selective insemination of cows by using sex-sorted sperm instead of the natural process where the offspring's gender cannot be decided.
The Chief Minister said that cow shelters will be opened in tea garden areas to keep cattle safe.
"The veterinary department has told me that we can go for artificial insemination in cattle using sex-sorted semen. This would mean that 10 to 20 years later, the cattle breed will be only cow, and no bulls," Mr Sarma said.
During a discussion on a special mention brought by Aminul Islam, the opposition MLA from All India United Democratic Front, the chief minister claimed that there is a tendency among the people to give away bulls to slaughterhouses.
Mr Sarma said, "If we look at Hindu parampara or ancient history, there is reference only to female cattle, like Kamdhenu, and how we were benefited with milk. That means there must have been something which ensured that cows were more in number than bulls."
The state government has already introduced the Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021, which seeks to regulate slaughter, consumption and transportation of cattle.