The Government of Gujarat will soon be implanting INR 1.5 lakh cattle with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag to prevent fraudulent applications for loans or claims against cattle insurance policies.
The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) in Gujarat will be permanently injecting the microchips in the cavity behind the ear of cows and buffaloes. The microchip is based on WORM (write once and read many) technology and giving a unique 15-digit identification number for the cattle sporting it. Dr Vasanth Kalaria, Veterinary Surgeon with DRDA stated that, if once it is injected, the it would be very difficult to remove and the farmers would have to take the help of a surgeon to remove it. DRDA has already completed a pilot project for RFID tags with Amul Dairy. In the first round mass tagging would be undertaken by November, 2007 on cows and buffaloes, which are to be given to the below-poverty-line (BPL) families under the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana.
