No matter how hard Trinamul Congress hits BJP over ‘cow politics’, Mamata Banerjee government has taken a significant step towards cow protection by increasing the incentives for around 11,000 ‘pranibandhus’, ‘pranimitras’ and ‘pranisebees’ (friend of animals) from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000.
According to Nabanna sources, the move will lead to an increase in the rearing of cows, goats, ducks and hens and thereby increase production of milk, eggs and meat. Along with this, it would raise scope of employment in rural Bengal.
‘Friend of Animals’ is a mobile ‘Private Artificial Insemination Workers’ assigned to each Gram Panchayat to cover the entire area under the supervision of the concerned Block Livestock Development Officer and the Veterinary Officer in-charge of the Gram Panchayat.
The state government had earlier decided to recruit unemployed rural youth as ‘friend of animals’ in order to increase cattle wealth in the state. They mainly treat cows and chickens in the villages and take an active part in government vaccination programs.
They are imparted one-and-a-half months theoretical training at Residential Institutional Training Centers followed by a three-month field training under the supervision of Block Livestock Development Officer or the Veterinary Officer of the concerned Block.
In 2018, the government introduced monthly incentives amounting to Rs 1,500 for ‘friend of animals’. Swapan Debnath, MoS animal resources development said that the incentive has been hiked under the instruction of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
“Initially, they did not have any permanent income. The chief minister started providing them incentives and now the incentive has been increased to Rs 5,000. This is a big hike and will give them more motivation to work,” said Debnath.
A notification in this regard was issued by the state animal resources development department today. Although two months back, it was decided to increase the incentive to Rs 3,000, it was reconsidered. Manoj Chakraborty, convener of the mentor group of the Trinamul-backed state government employees’ federation lauded the move and requested the state government to recruit more ‘friend of animals’.
However, the association of ‘pranibandhus pranisebees and pranimitras’ demanded monthly salaries so as to ensure their services. In order to increase rural employment, the government is also distributing improved breeds of cows and chickens in the villages. Bank loans are also being provided to unemployed youth to encourage poultry farming and the results will be available in the near future, said an official of the animal resource development department.