Prayagraj, Feb 8 : The cow may be granted the status of 'Mother of the Nation' before the Maha Kumbh 2025, if the Uttar Pradesh chief minister accepts the demand of the sants in Prayagraj.

The sants want that the cow should be referred to as 'Rama', with 'Ra' standing for 'Rashtra' (nation) and 'Ma' for 'Mata' (mother).

A proposal to this effect was among the 21 proposals passed by the sants at the 'Gau Sansad' held at the Magh Mela camp of Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of Uttarakhand's Jyotish Peeth on Wednesday.

At the 'Gau Sansad', the holy men unanimously decided that from now onwards they would address cows as 'Rama'. The ongoing 54-day annual religious fair of Magh Mela 2024 started with Makar Sankranti bathing on January 15 and would conclude with the Maha Shivaratri bathing on March 8.

The sants also resolved that if their demands raised through these proposals were not met, they would launch an agitation.

The other proposals passed by them include establishing a 'Rashtriya Rama Gau Bhakt Aayog' with the help of cow devotees.

This Aayog will identify all the cows in the country through DNA testing, get them registered and declare a protocol for treating them from 'nav samvatsar' (Hindu New Year).

The 'Gau Sansad' also appealed to the government to form a separate 'cow ministry' and the bovines should not come under the animal husbandry ministry.

Cows and their progeny should be removed from the state list of the Constitution and be included in the Central list. Those who consume beef should be ostracised.

People should vote for the candidate who gives an affidavit along with his manifesto that as soon as the government is formed, the first decision will be to give respect and protection to the cow.

As soon as the cow gets the honour of the 'Mother of the Nation', the first thing the sants community would do is take the cow's milk to Ayodhya and offer it to Ram Lalla there, the seers said.

The government was further requested to free encroached land and make it available to cows for grazing.

/IANS