S&T Ministry bats for validating Panchgavya concoction of cow products

Kolkata, May 4 (IANS) India is scientifically validating the benefits of Panchgavya (concoction of cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd and ghee) to better explore and exploit it as a material resource, Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan has said.

"The power of Panchgavya is known but there is need for scientific validation through modern technology so that the world can recognise it. The world accepts the power of Ayurveda and Yoga but if we don't validate it scientifically, it won't get the deserved recognition," Vardhan told IANS here at the conclusion of a two-day Department of Science and Technology conclave.

"The work that is being done across India on Panchgavya, we are validating it scientifically. By only saying that cow urine is good, it is not done. Our scientists are examining the aspects scientifically," he said.

In December 2016, IIT-Delhi had organised a national brainstorming-cum-consultative workshop on "Scientific Validation and Research on Panchgavya" (Svarop). It was supported by DST, DBT and CSIR under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, said a consortium of ministries would be involved in establishing the scientific basis of different aspects of Panchgavya's usage.

Sharma also clarified the validation had nothing to do with the belief of the "sacred cow".

"The material is same but its usage is different. There is nothing to do with sacred cow. Its a material resource, whether you look at it as a construction material, or a fuel.

"You use it as a fuel (cow dung is used in villages) but how do we get better fuel out of it, how we do we get cleaner fuel out of it?

"Because of the way we burn it, it causes pollution, so you can not get away from the reality of pollution or the reality of the use of that material," Sharma added.