india

Updated: Jan 16, 2017 14:42 IST

Rajasthan education and panchayati raj minister Vasudev Devnani has said that cow is the only animal that ‘inhales and exhales oxygen’ and that people need to understand its ‘scientific significance’.

According to a release issued by the Rajasthan education department, the minister made the statement at a programme organised at the Hingonia Cow Rehabilitation Centre by Akshay Patra foundation on Saturday.

Devnani also said that diseases such as cold and cough are healed if one goes near a cow and emphasised on the role of youth in promoting cow conservation in the entire country.

He also claimed that cow dung has ample quantity of vitamin B that results in soaking radioactivity.

However, in 2006 a UN Food and Agricultural Organisation report said that livestock, including cows, are “responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.”

Protection of cow, regarded by Hindus as a holy animal, has become a political issue in the country. Last year, vigilantes — several of whom were linked to Sangh Parivar organisations — have attacked and killed people on suspicion of killing the animal or consuming its meat.