National Gopal Ratna Awards to be conferred on National Milk Day celebration 2023

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

Chief Minister, 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 National Gopal Ratna Award 2023 as a part of National Milk Day celebration 2023.

What is National Gopal Ratna Award?

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 Company/Dairy farmers Producers Organizations working in this sector. The Award is conferred in three categories, namely,

• Best Dairy Farmer Rearing Indigenous Cattle/buffalo Breeds,
• Best Dairy Cooperative/ Milk Producer Company/ Dairy Farmer Producer Organization).
• Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT)

Award consists of a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh for 1st rank, Rs. 3 lakh for 2nd rank and Rs. 2 lakh for 3rd rank along with a Certificate of merit and a memento in first two categories i.e Best Dairy Farmer and Best DCS / FPO/ MPCs. In case of Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT) category, 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 as under:

Name of the winners of NGRA 2023 with rank

1. Best Dairy farmer rearing indigenous cattle/buffalo breeds

• 1st- Ram Singh, Karnal, , Haryana
• 2nd- Nilesh Maganbhai Ahir, Surat, Gujarat
• 3rd- Brinda Siddharth Shah, Valsad, Gujarat
• 3rd- Rahul Manohar Khairnar, Nashik, Maharashtra

2. Best Dairy Cooperative society/Milk Producer company/ Dairy Farmer producer organization

• 1st- Pulpally Ksheerolpadaka Sahakarana Sangam D Ltd, Wayanad, Kerala
• 2nd- T M Hosoor Milk Producers Cooperative Society Ltd Cooperative Society, Mandya, Karnataka
• 3rd- M.S 158 Nathamkovilpatti Milk Producers Cooperative Society,Dindigul,Tamil Nadu

3. Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT)

• 1st- Suman Kumar Sah, Araria, Bihar
• 2nd- Anil Kumar Pradhan, Anugul, Odisha
• 3rd- Muddapu Prasadarao , Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh

The applications were invited through the online application portal i.e. https://awards.gov.in developed by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) during 15.08.2023 to 15.10.2023. A total of 1770 applications were received.

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 crucial role in the national economy. In the absence of a specific programme on 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, had initiated "Rashtriya Gokul Mission", under National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development in December 2014 with a view to conserve and develop indigenous bovine breeds.