Pune: Groups running fodder camps in Maharashtra have threatened to shut operations over new government requirements which they claim are cumbersome. They say that the state is directing them to provide information on the cattle online, and to add daily updates – a job for which they do not have funds to hire people. Besides, internet and electricity are often unreliable in the villages where the camps are located.
Due to frequent droughts in the state, farmers do not have enough water or fodder for their cattle, which includes bulls, buffalos and cows. Thus they take their cattle to fodder camps.
According to a May 4 notification, owners of fodder camps are required to download a mobile app called ‘Cattle Camp Management System’ designed by Shourya Technosoft Private Limited. Owners have been directed to upload information of farmers, their cattle and their ration card numbers using this app.
They have been asked to purchase tags with unique barcodes which are to be tied to the ears of the animals – with the help of or in the presence of officials from the Animal Husbandry Department. These barcodes are to be scanned daily and the information uploaded using the app.
As per the notification, officials from the Revenue Department will provide training on this and the collector and tehsildar would be tasked with getting this information filled online on ‘Cattle Camp Management System‘.
Funding will be based on the information uploaded. Big-sized cattle would be given 18 kgs of fodder while small ones would get nine kgs per day. State government would provide Rs 90 per day for big cattle and Rs 45 for small ones.
A fodder camp in Maharashtra. Credit: Varsha Torgalkar
Those actually running these camps, however, find the procedure impracticable and have threatened to shut shop if the new rules are not withdrawn.
Chetna Vijay Sinha of the Mann Deshi Foundation, who runs a fodder camp at Mhaswad in Maan taluka of Satara district, agrees that the government should have a mechanism to keep a check on the number of cattle due to past cases of corruption in such establishments. Sinha, however, says that the new requirements are not viable.
“Should we arrange fodder and water every day or scan bar codes in the ears of animals and fill up in the app? There are 8,000 animals here at the camp. I need to hire 10-15 people just for this work and the government will not pay for that,” Sinha said.
Vaishali Shedage, who is a manager at the camp, said, “Ear tagging these animals is pretty risky as cattle are usually violent. To scan them every day would be riskier still. Who will come forward for this kind of job?”
Shobha Limbal, a farmer whose cattle has been at the Mhaswad camp since January 1, aggressively opposes the ear-tagging idea. She said: “It will be painful for them and I will not allow my cattle to go through such pain every day. They are part of our family.”
A fodder camp in Maharashtra. Credit: Varsha Torgalkar
Dharmraj Aher, who started a fodder camp at Khalegaon in Georai taluka of Beed district, said: “I got permission to start the fodder camp from April 8. The government has come up with the GR a month after giving permission to fodder camps. They should have done it from the beginning.”
“Besides, I really don’t think the owner or the people working at fodder camps are tech savvy enough to download a mobile app and fill up information on it daily,” he said. “We will need a person with technical expertise, like an engineer. We don’t have the funds, and the government knows the problems farmers had when crop insurance and loan waiver schemes were made online.”
He added, “Do you think internet connections are cheaper here? Most of the time, the internet does not work in villages. Officials sitting in air-conditioned offices decide such procedures and they are not aware of the conditions in villages. Many people like us started fodder camps just to save cattle and now they have come up with such absurd rules.”
A secretary of a charity organisation that runs a fodder camp said on the condition of anonymity: “First the state should make sure to supply uninterrupted electricity so that we can use computers or laptops or charge mobiles whenever we want to fill the required data in the app.”
As per the new rules, a farmer can send only five cattle to a fodder camp. The farmer’s name, number of cattle, their specifications and his ration card number will be filled in the application. Thus, one farmer cannot take any extra cattle on the same ration card number.
Many farmers in drought-affected areas like Marathwada or in Maan in Satara earn their livelihood by selling milk and use cattle for nearly all tasks at their farms. Thus, they have about 10-15 cattle.
Sinha said: “It was the responsibility of the state to arrange food and water for all cattle in this drought. But instead, they are finding ways to shrug their responsibility.”
Varsha Torgalkar is an independent journalist based in Pune.
