Explained: National Gopal Ratna Awards

Inspiration Study Circle Explained: National Gopal Ratna Awards

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, is making all-out efforts for the effective development of the Animal Husbandry and Dairy sector to provide sustainable livelihood to the farmers. Indigenous bovine breeds of India are robust and possess the genetic potential to play a crucial role in the national economy.

The “Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM)” was launched in December 2014, to conserve and develop indigenous bovine breeds scientifically.

Under RGM, since 2021 this department has been conferring the National Gopal Ratna Award every year to encourage the Milk producing farmers, dairy cooperative societies/MPC/FPOs, and Artificial Insemination Technicians (AITs).

National Gopal Ratna Awards 2024

This year the National Gopal Ratna Award is for the following categories:

Best Dairy farmer rearing indigenous cattle/buffalo breeds (list of registered breeds Annexed).
Best Dairy Cooperative Society (DCS)/ Milk Producer Company (MPC)/ Dairy Farmer Producer Organization (FPO).

Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT).

From this year onward, the Department has incorporated a Special award for North Eastern Region (NER) States to encourage and boost the dairy development activities in North Eastern Region (NER).

NGRA 2024 will be conferred to 1^st,2^nd, 3^rd, and one Special Award for North Eastern Region (NER) States in each category mentioned above.

NGRA 2024 will consist of a Certificate of merit, a memento, and a monitory prize in the first two categories i.e Best Dairy Farmer and Best DCS/FPO/MPCs as under:

- Rs. 5,00,000/-(Rupee five lakh only) -1st rank
- Rs. 3,00,000/- (Rupee three lakh only) -2nd rank and
- Rs. 2,00,000/- (Rupee two lakh only) -3rd rank
- Rs. 2,00,000/- (Rupee two lakh only) -Special Award for North Eastern Region (NER).

The awards were conferred on National Milk Day (26^th Nov 2024).

For more details about guidelines regarding eligibility and applying online, the website https://awards.gov.in OR https://dahd.nic.in may be referred.

Objectives behind NGRA

To transform the entire ecosystem of awards conferred by the government of India especially building credibility and trust by focusing on merit, objectivity, transparency, people participation, simplicity, efficiency, and use of technology, the Central Awards Support Unit (CASU) set up in MHA has exercised reviewing and revamping of awards.

The objective of any bovine breeding program is the genetic up-gradation of Cattle and Buffaloes and to achieve this, the Artificial Insemination (A.I.) service needs to be robust. There are 302 million bovines in the country as per the 20^th Livestock census.
AI technicians have a crucial role in transforming the bovine population from a state of low productivity to optimal Productivity. Hence there is a need to identify the best AI technician striving hard towards 100% AI coverage to achieve the country’s flagship program objective of doubling farmers’ income.

To motivate farmers to take up productivity enhancement of indigenous breeds of milch animals in a scientific manner.

To motivate Cooperative and Milk producer Companies to grow and to instill competitive spirit.
To motivate Artificial Insemination Technicians to take up 100% AI coverage, under Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM).

Eligibility for the Award

Farmers maintaining any of the recognized Indigenous breeds out of 53 breeds of cattle and 20 breeds of buffaloes shall be eligible to apply for the award.
A Cooperative society/Milk Producer Company (MPQ/Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) engaged in Dairy activities set up at the village level and is registered under the Cooperative Societies Act/ Companies Act collecting at least 100 liters of milk per day and having at least 50 farmer/milk producer member.

Artificial insemination Technician of the State/UT Livestock Development Board/State /Milk Federations /NGO/s and other private organizations having undergone AI training for a minimum of 90 days shall be eligible to apply for the award. Since the award is meant for Artificial Insemination Technicians (the Veterinary Doctors are not eligible for this Award).

The National Award Committee (NAC) and Award presentation

The National Award Committee, as constituted by DAHD shall select the final awardees i.e. 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd rank in each category.
The Committee shall decide their methodology and criteria of selection. The committee may, if required, seek details of physical verification/ live video footage, etc. The Committee shall maintain the confidentiality on selection of candidates for awards till the names of awardees are announced officially.

The non-official members of the National Award Committee shall be entered for TA/DA as per General Finance Rules.

Registered Breeds of Cattle (For NGRA 2024)

S.N.	Breed	Home Tract
1	Amritmahal	Karnataka
2	Bachaur	Bihar
3	Bargur	Tamilnadu
4	Dangi	Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh
5	Deoni	Maharashtra and Karnataka
6	Gaolao	Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh
7	Gir	Gujarat
8	Hallikar	Karnataka
9	Hariana	Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
10	Kangayam	Tamilnadu
11	Kankrej	Gujarat and Rajasthan
12	Kenkatha	Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
13	Kherigarh	Uttar Pradesh
14	Khillar	Maharashtra and Karnataka
15	Krishna Valley	Karnataka
16	Malvi	Madhya Pradesh
17	Mewati	Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
18	Nagori	Rajasthan
19	Nimari	Madhya Pradesh
20	Ongole	Andhra Pradesh
21	Ponwar	Uttar Pradesh
22	Punganur	Andhra Pradesh
23	Rathi	Rajasthan
24	Red Kandhari	Maharashtra
25	Red Sindhi	On organized farms only
26	Sahiwal	Punjab and Rajasthan
27	Siri	Sikkim and West Bengal
28	Tharparkar	Rajasthan
29	Umblachery	Tamilnadu
30	Vechur	Kerala
31	Motu	Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh
32	Ghumusari	Orissa
33	Binjharpuri	Orissa
34	Khariar	Orissa
35	Pulikulam	Tamilnadu
36	Kosali	Chhattisgarh
37	Malnad Gidda	Karnataka
38	Belahi	Haryana and Chandigarh
39	Gangatiri	Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
40	Badri	Uttarakhand
41	Lakhimi	Assam
42	Ladakhi	Jammu and Kashmir
43	Konkan Kapila	Maharashtra and Goa
44	PodaThurpu	Telangana
45	Nari	Rajasthan and Gujarat
46	Dagri	Gujarat
47	Thutho	Nagaland
48	Shweta Kapila	Goa
49	Himachali Pahari	Himachal Pradesh
50	Purnea	Bihar
51	Kathani	Maharashtra
52	Sanchori	Rajasthan
53	Masilum	Meghalaya

Registered Breeds of Buffalo (For NGRA 2024)

Sr. No	Breed	Home Tract
1	Bhadawari	Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
2	Jaffarabadi	Gujrat
3	Marathwadi	Maharashtra
4	Mehsana	Gujarat
5	Murrah	Haryana
6	Nagpuri	Maharashtra
7	Nili Ravi	Punjab
8	Pandharpuri	Maharashtra
9	Surti	Gujarat
10	Toda	Tamilnadu
11	Banni	Gujarat
12	Chilika	Orissa
13	Kalahandi	Odisha
14	Luit (Swamp)	Assam and Manipur
15	Bargur	Tamil Nadu
16	Chhattisgarhi	Chhattisgarh
17	Gojri	Punjab and Himachal Pradesh
18	Dharwadi	Karnataka
19	Manda	Odisha
20	Purnathadi	Maharashtra

Disclaimer: The information and statistics for the above article have been taken from the Press Information Bureau and Guidelines from the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India