It is all about cows these days. After a cow got an admit card in Jammu and Kashmir to appear for the competitive examination, the “mother cow” is likely to replace the “endangered” tiger as the national animal of India.
The demands to declare the cow as the national animal have grown manifold. The ministry of environment and forests has been struggling to maintain a truckload of records demanding to elevate the cow’s status.
“Over 100,000 from Maharashtra alone [have been] demanding cow be declared as the national animal,” a ministry official told Mint, adding as many as 15,000 appeals have been sent from just an organisation named Jai Gurudev Mangal from the Vidarbha.
“The Union Home Ministry will have to take a decision on declaring the cow as the national animal. Any national declaration comes from the home ministry only. It will have to be cleared by the Prime Minister as well,” the environment ministry official told The Mint .
A report in The New Indian Express further mentioned that the minister of environment and forests, Prakash Javadekar was concerned about the deluge of requests, and had to take some action regarding the matter.
“The ministry has now taken up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the authority on any national declarations,” the report adds.