- Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala launched ‘A-Help’ program along with infertility camps in the state of Gujarat.
- The Union Ministry has started this initiative as part of the ‘Pashudhan Jagruti Abhiyan’.
A-HELP’ Programme
- It is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and the Ministry of Rural Development.
- ‘A-HELP’ are community-based women activists, who assist veterinarians in local departmental activities help livestock farmers to take loans for entrepreneurship development, fill out applications, mark the ear tagging of animals and register them in the INAF portal and help with insurance etc.
- They assist in implementing various schemes and in providing information to the farmers at the grassroots level.
- They will give vital contributions to preventing various infectious diseases of animals, artificial insemination under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), tagging animals and animal insurance.
Rashtriya Gokul Mission
- It is being implemented for the development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014.
- It is continued under the umbrella scheme Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojana from 2021 to 2026.
Objectives
- To enhance the productivity of bovines and increase milk production in a sustainable manner using advanced technologies.
- To propagate the use of high genetic merit bulls for breeding purposes.
- To enhance Artificial insemination coverage through strengthening the breeding network and delivery of Artificial insemination services at farmers’ doorstep.
- To promote indigenous cattle & buffalo rearing and conservation in a scientific and holistic manner.