Hindi textbooks for Class V students in Rajasthan government schools have a chapter in which a cow writes a letter to students addressing them as her offspring, and narrating the benefits of considering her their mother, reported The Times of India.
The chapter contains a large image of a cow, with other images of Hindu gods and goddesses placed inside the picture. "I give every individual strength, intelligence, long life, health, happiness and prosperity. Those who feel (my importance) consider me as their mother and I love them like my offspring," the letter reads.
According to the letter, cows produce the elixir of life in the form of milk, butter and ghee. The textbook further goes on to state that the animal's urine and excreta produces medicines, fertilisers and pesticides. They also help in agriculture besides purifying the environment by breathing, stated the book.
The state's cow minister, the only one of the kind in the country, Otaram Dewasi said that the chapter in the textbooks was a positive move towards creating awareness regarding the benefits of the animal. The textbook, however, is not a part of the examination syllabus in the school.
Recently, reports said that a new edition of the state's Class VIII Social Science textbook removed all mention of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
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