After much criticism, Govt postpones nationwide ‘Cow Science Exam’ till further notice

Feb. 22: Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA), the government body set up for cow welfare has announced that it will hold a countrywide online examination on ‘gau vigyan’ (cow science) on 25 February, 2021. However, after a lot of criticism and furore, the ‘Cow Science Exam, 2021’ was postponed till further notice.

The University Grants Commission has written to vice-chancellors of 900 varsities across the country to encourage students to enroll in ‘Cow Science’ exam, which is a national-level exam to test knowledge on ‘gau vigyan’ (cow science). As per the official statement of the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog, over 5 lakh people have submitted their application forms to appear for the Cow Science Exam 2021, which is otherwise known as the Kamdhenu Gau Vigyan Prachar- Prasar Examination.

A note on kamdhenugvppexam.org says, “Please note that online Kamdhenu Gau Vigyan Prachar Prasar Exam / Pratiyogita which was scheduled for 25th Feb 2021 including Mock Examination on 21st Feb 2021 has been postponed.”

The decision to postpone the exam was taken after criticism that the central government body is spreading ‘superstition and unscientific’ information about cows through reference material on cattle. Jadavpur University has straight off rejected the proposal of conducting a “Cow Science” examination. The University authority and teachers are of the view that the University has always upheld a Scientific form of education since it’s inception. Holding this examination will be a compromise with it’s eternal philosophy . At a time when COVID 19 has gripped the nation and most universities are suffering from lack of funds, teachers feel that research should have been conducted in Scientific disciplines well funded by the govt, instead the current exam tries to push a particular unscientific philosophy on the current generation of students.

In its Facebook Page, Jadavpur University provided Examples of unscientific data cited in the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (the organising body ) study material for the exam –

2. The study material mentions that a particular place where cows have been killed continously for some years are more prone to earthquakes.