UP set to start ambulance service for cows

The Uttar Pradesh government is all set to start an ambulance service for cows suffering from serious diseases, state Dairy Development, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary said in Mathura on Sunday.

The minister said 515 ambulances are ready for the novel scheme, probably the first in the country.

"Akin to the 112 emergency service number, the new service would pave the way for speedy treatment of seriously ill cows," he told reporters in Mathura.

An ambulance with a veterinary doctor and two assistants would arrive within a span of 15 to 20 minutes of requesting the service, he said.

Under the scheme slated to begin by December, a call centre will be set up at Lucknow for receiving complaints, the minister stated.

He said the state's breed improvement programme will get a boost with the provision of free high quality semen and embryo transplant technology.

The embryo transplant technology will virtually be a revolution in the state as it would convert even sterile cows into high milk yielding animals, the minister added.

This would automatically the solve stray cattle problem as cow keepers would desist from letting go of animals yielding at least 20 litres milk per day, Chaudhary said.

The scheme would start as a pilot project in eight districts of the state, including Mathura, he said.

For the first time in the history of the state, the Yogi Adityanath government gave funds to cow shelters for keeping stray cattle. No previous government in the state took such a step, the minister added.