india

Updated: Aug 02, 2017 00:09 IST

BJP MP in the Lok Sabha Meenakshi Lekhi stumped Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh in the Lower House on Tuesday by listing a question on the Delhi Milk Supply scheme but seeking answers on the medicinal properties of cow urine.

Lekhi’s questions prompted Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to point out, “She has gone from milk to gau mutra (cow urine). The member should think about it. It is up to the minister to answer.” Singh also pointed out to the chair that the original question pertained to the Delhi Milk Supply scheme.

During Question Hour, Lekhi had sought to know from the government whether it had received complaints on the deterioration of quality of milk, ghee and other milk products under the DMS – run by the government. Each member whose question is listed for oral answers (also called starred questions) gets an opportunity to ask two supplementary questions which are not listed beforehand.

Lekhi said, “A former ASG had been cured of a critical illness after being given cow urine.” She wanted to know what the government was doing to publicise the merits of “ancient cures” in a modern way. She also asked whether the government is conducting research in the field.

Her second question put the focus on cow dung. Lekhi said due to lack of moisture, soil was turning into dust and causing pollution that leads to lung diseases. She said cow dung has the ability to revitalise soil and increase its moisture content and wanted to know if the government was setting up “waste to energy plants” to tap the prowess of cow dung.

Singh said the government is in the process of setting up a genome centre in Karnal to study cow-related products. He also said the government had not received any complaints regarding DMS products and pointed out that the original question pertained to DMS.