National Gopal Ratna Awards to be Presented on November 26 in Commemoration of National Milk Day Celebration

Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala will confer the National Gopal Ratna Awards on November 26, 2023, at Veterinary College Ground, Guwahati, Assam.

Chief Minister of Assam, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma and Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan will also be present in the award ceremony.

Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is organizing the National Gopal Ratna Award 2023 as a part of the National Milk Day celebration 2023.         

The National Gopal Ratna Award is one of the highest National Awards in the field of livestock and dairy sector, with an objective to recognize and encourage all individuals like Farmers rearing indigenous animals, AI Technicians and Dairy cooperative societies/Milk Producer Companies/Dairy farmers Producers Organizations working in this sector. The Award will be conferred in three categories, namely,

1. Best Dairy Farmer Rearing Indigenous Cattle/buffalo Breeds,

2. Best Dairy Cooperative/ Milk Producer Company/ Dairy Farmer Producer Organization).

3. Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT) and

Award consists of a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh for 1^st rank, Rs. 3 lakh for 2^nd rank and Rs. 2 lakh for 3^rd rank along with a Certificate of merit and a memento in the first two categories i.e., Best Dairy Farmer and Best DCS / FPO/ MPCs.

In the case of the Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT) category, the National Gopal Ratna Award-2023 will consist of a Certificate of merit and a memento only.

After following due procedure, the Department of Animal Husbandry is hereby declaring the winners in each category.

The applications were invited through the online application portal i.e., https://awards.gov.in developed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) from August 15, 2023, to October 15, 2023. A total of 1770 applications were received.

The livestock sector is crucial to the Indian economy today, comprising one-third of the agriculture and allied sector GVA and having over 8% CAGR.

At the same time, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries activities play a significant role in generating farmer income, particularly among the landless, small and marginal farmers and women, besides providing cheap and nutritious food to millions of people.

Indigenous bovine breeds of India are robust and possess the genetic potential to play a crucial role in the national economy. In the absence of a specific programme on the development and conservation of indigenous breeds, their population has been declining and their performance is below the potential at present.

Thus, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying initiated the “Rashtriya Gokul Mission”, under the National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development in December 2014 with a view to conserve and develop indigenous bovine breeds.