Subject: GS Paper II (Governance) & GS Paper III (Agriculture) UPSC Relevance: Use of ICT in agriculture and livestock management.
- The Core Concept: NDLM is a farmer-centric ecosystem that aims to create a "Digital Identity" for India’s 535 million livestock.
- Key Pillars:
- Animal Identification (PashAadhaar): A 12-digit UID ear tag. This prevents "Identity Fraud" in cattle trade and insurance.
- Bharat Pashudhan Database: A centralized portal that tracks every vaccination, deworming, and artificial insemination event.
- Disease Control: It enables "Disease Forecasting." If a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) case is logged in one village, the system can automatically alert neighboring districts.
- Economic Impact:
oTraceability: For India to export dairy to the EU/USA, it must provide a digital trail of the animal’s health. NDLM provides this "Sanitary and Phytosanitary" (SPS) proof.
oCredit Access: Digitized health records serve as a "credit score" for farmers seeking loans.
Challenge: Ensuring 100% ear-tagging in nomadic tribal communities and addressing data privacy for farmers.
IAS-2026 - OPTIONAL / GEOGRAPHY / PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION / SOCIOLOGY / ANTHROPOLOGY / ORIENTATION ON 03 & 04-10-2025 
