Links protection to farm health

Linking the need for cow protection and the growing number of farmer suicides, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the decreasing number of cows had led to more farmers to take their lives.

“The cow stands for the future. We will lose the future if cows are not available. In villages where the number of cows has fallen, farm production has also gone down. In the same area, farmer suicides have increased,” Mr. Fadnavis said at the Jain International Organisation’s (JIO) Mega Business JIO Conference.

Addressing Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who was also present at the event, he said Maharashtra considers cow protection to be as important as the Gujarat government does.

“Land fertility has fallen drastically in areas where cows are not protected. Our Constitution, too, calls for protection of milch animals. Cow protection is not limited to religion. Many things from our religion are linked to science,” he said.

Mr. Fadnavis said he was sure that the Jain community would take the lead in GST implementation.