look news india
New Delhi/Lucknow/Jaipur: GiveAfter agriculture, animal husbandry is the biggest and most reliable basis of livelihood of farmers and animal herders in rural areas of India. To make the animal husbandry business modern, profitable and risk-free, the Central Government and various state governments have accelerated several ambitious subsidy and insurance programs under the ‘Pashudhan Yojana’ (Pashudhan Yojana 2026-27) for the financial year 2026-27. The main objective of these schemes is to provide free insurance protection to the cattle farmers for purchasing improved indigenous breed of milch animals, setting up modern dairy units, acquiring fodder cutter machines and financial loss on accidental death of animals. The biggest thing is that now cattle farmers do not need to visit offices to get government assistance, rather the process of application through online portal and selection through e-lottery has been implemented in most of the states in a transparent manner.
In the financial year 2026-27, different states have prepared the outline of animal husbandry plans according to their geographical and rural needs. ‘Mukhyamantri Swadeshi Cow-Sanvardhan Yojana’ and ‘Mini Nandini Krishak Samridhi Yojana’ are being operated under ‘Nand Baba Dugdh Mission’ in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh including Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur and Meerut. Under the Swadeshi Cow-Promotion Scheme, on setting up a unit of 2 cows of Gir, Sahiwal, Haryana and Tharparkar breed (estimated cost is Rs 2 lakh), the government sends a direct subsidy of 40 percent i.e. up to a maximum of Rs 80,000 to the bank account of the cattle rearer, in which 50 percent seats are reserved for women cattle rearers. At the same time, under the ‘Mukhyamantri Mangala Pashu Bima Yojana’, the Rajasthan government is providing absolutely free insurance to the eligible cattle owners for milch cow, buffalo, sheep, goat and camel, in which the insurance cover is up to a maximum of Rs 40,000 per milch cow or buffalo and Rs 4,000 per animal for sheep and goat. Apart from this, in states like Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, huge subsidy ranging from 75 to 90 percent is being given to rural women under the Milk Cattle Distribution Scheme.
Along with state level schemes, capital grant up to 50 percent of the total project cost (up to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh) is being provided by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying of the Central Government under the ‘National Livestock Mission’ (NLM) for setting up goat rearing, sheep rearing, poultry and fodder processing units. Apart from this, short-term loans up to Rs 1.60 lakh are being provided to small and marginal livestock farmers at very low interest rates (effectively 4 per cent per annum on timely payment) for fodder, medicine and maintenance of animals through ‘Pashu Kisan Credit Card’ without any land or property guarantee.
To avail the benefits of these schemes, it is mandatory for the applicant to be a permanent resident of the concerned state and his minimum age should be 18 years. The cattle farmer should have adequate space or cattle shed available to keep the animals and it is mandatory to get ‘Ear Tagging’ (12 digit animal Aadhaar number) done to identify the purchased or insured animal. At the time of online application, the applicant must have Aadhaar card, family identity card or Jan Aadhaar card (for Rajasthan), bank passbook (which is linked to Aadhaar and DBT), residence certificate, details of the number and breed of animals, passport size photograph and active mobile number.
Interested animal farmers can apply online by visiting the official Animal Husbandry Department portal of their state or the Jan Samarth and Udyami Mitra portal of the Central Government. Animal farmers of Uttar Pradesh should visit the official website nandbabadugdhmission.up.gov.in, citizens of Rajasthan should log in to ‘Raj Kisan Sathi’ portal (rajkisan.rajasthan.gov.in) and applicants of National Livestock Mission should visit nlm.udyamimitra.in. Click on ‘New Farmer Registration’ on the home page of the portal and complete the OTP verification through your mobile number and Aadhaar. After logging in, select the relevant scheme (like Dairy Unit, Cow Promotion or Animal Insurance), fill the complete personal and animal details, scan and upload the required documents and submit the application. After the application is submitted, physical verification is done by the veterinary officer, once successful, the grant amount is transferred directly to the bank account of the beneficiary. For any further information, farmers can contact their nearest government veterinary hospital or block animal husbandry officer.