The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) declared the winners of the National Gopal Ratna Awards(NGRA) ; one of the highest National Awards in the field of livestock and dairy sector for the year 2024. These awards will be given on the occasion of National Milk Day celebrations on 26^th November 2024 at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi. The Awards to the winners will be conferred by Union Minister, Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in the august presence of Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel and Shri George Kurian, Minister of State, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in a grand function being organized by the department as part of the National Milk Day celebrations 2024.

About National Gopal Ratna Awards

The National Gopal Ratna Awards  are conferred  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 the sector of animal husbandry and dairying. The Award is conferred in three categories, namely,

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

From this year onwards, the Department has incorporated a Special award for North Eastern Region (NER) States, in all the three categories under National Gopal Ratna Awards, so as to encourage and boost the dairy development activities in NER.

This year’s awardees include:

S. No.	Category	Name of the winners of NGRA 2024 with Rank
1.	Best Dairy farmer rearing indigenous cattle/buffalo breeds	1st    Smt. Renu, Jhajjar, Haryana, 2nd  Shri Devendra Singh Parmar, Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh, 3rd    Smt. Surbhi Singh, Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh,   Special Award in the category for  NER:          Ms. Juna Tamuli Barman, Bajali, Assam,          Mrs Junuma  Mali, Morigaon, Assam
2.	Best Dairy Cooperative society/Milk Producer company/ Dairy Farmer producer organization	1st  The Gabat Milk Producers Cooperative Society Limited, Aravali, Gujarat, 1st    Milk Producer Cooperative Society Limited Bisanal, Bagalkot, Karnataka, 2nd    Pratppura Dugdh Utpadak Sahakari Samiti Limited Pratppura, Bhilwara, Rajasthan, 3rd   TND 208 Vadapathy MPCS ltd, Cuddalore, Tamil  Nadu,   Special Award in the category for  NER:          Kamdhenu Dugdha Utpadak Samabay Samitee Ltd Nityananda, Bajali, Assam,
3.	Best Artificial Insemination Technician (AIT)	1st       Shri Bhaskar Pradhan, Subarnapur, Odisha, 1st      Mr. Rajender Kumar, Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, 2nd     Mr. Virender Kumar Saini, Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, 3rd      Shri V Anil Kumar, Annamayya, Andhra Pradesh,   Special Award in the category for  NER:           Shri Md. Abdur Rahim, Kamrup, Assam

The Award consists of a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh for 1^st rank, Rs. 3 lakh for 2^nd rank, Rs. 2 lakh for 3^rd rank and Rs. 2 lakh for Special Award for North Eastern Region, along with a Certificate of merit and a memento in the 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-2024 will consist of a Certificate of merit and a memento. The winners were selected out of a total of 2574 applications received that were invited through an online application portal i.e. https://awards.gov.in

Background

Livestock sector is a crucial sector of the Indian economy, 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 the indigenous bovine breeds.

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