Context:
Recently, the Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairying unveiled the ‘A-HELP’ (Accredited Agent for Health and Extension of Livestock Production) programme in the State of Gujarat.
Relevance:
GS II: Government policies and Interventions
Dimensions of the Article:
- A-HELP’ Programme: Empowering Women for Livestock Assistance
- About the Rashtriya Gokul Mission
A-HELP’ Programme: Empowering Women for Livestock Assistance
- Jointly introduced by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and the Ministry of Rural Development.
- The program entails community-based women activists known as ‘A-HELP’ (Animal Health Entrepreneurship and Livelihood Promotion).
- ‘A-HELP’ members collaborate with veterinarians and actively engage in local departmental activities to aid livestock farmers.
Key Roles and Responsibilities:
- Supporting Livestock Farmers: ‘A-HELP’ women assist livestock farmers in securing loans for entrepreneurial ventures.
- Administrative Assistance: They facilitate paperwork, application completion, ear tagging of animals, and registration in the INAF portal.
- Scheme Implementation: These activists play a crucial role in executing various schemes, offering valuable information to grassroots-level farmers.
- Disease Prevention and Animal Care: They contribute significantly to preventing infectious animal diseases, conducting artificial insemination under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), tagging animals, and promoting animal insurance.
About the Rashtriya Gokul Mission
- The Rashtriya Gokul Mission was launched in December 2014.
- It has been extended as part of the Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojana from 2021 to 2026.
Mission Objectives:
- Enhancing Productivity: The mission aims to boost the productivity of indigenous bovine breeds while ensuring sustainability. It leverages advanced technologies for this purpose.
- Increased Milk Production: One of its goals is to facilitate a significant increase in milk production through efficient bovine management practices.
- High-Quality Breeding: The mission advocates the use of high genetic merit bulls for breeding, contributing to the improvement of cattle genetics.
- Widening Insemination Coverage: Strengthening the breeding network and making artificial insemination services easily accessible to farmers is a key objective.
- Holistic Conservation: The mission is dedicated to the scientific and comprehensive conservation of indigenous cattle and buffalo breeds.
