Cows to get ID cards in India

The Indian government has considered to provide unique identification numbers for cows in the country to prevent their trafficking.

Since there has been a string of cow-related violence, many state governments, particularly those ruled by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), have defended the action on the grounds that the animal is considered holy by many Hindus.

According to Xinhua, the information was submitted by the federal government in the country’s top court, which was hearing a petition by an organisation alleging rampant smuggling of cattle across the border of Bangladesh.

“Solicitor general Ranjit Kumar told Supreme Court Monday that in order to tackle the illegal smuggling of cows and other cattle, it (gov’t) had accepted the recommendation of an expert group to provide a unique identification number (UIN) for each one,” an official said.

“It may be made mandatory for cows and their progeny throughout India,” the official quoted solicitor general as saying, adding that “each animal will be tagged proper records of identification details – age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body colour, horn type, tail switch and special marks.”

The proposal, which is somewhat similar to India’s huge national identity scheme project focus on cow protection, especially by vigilante groups.
A state-level database may be uploaded on a website that would be linked with a national online database.