Mumbai: Remarks by the Director of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, V Kamakoti, where he claimed that cow urine has “anti-bacterial” and anti-fungal” properties, has been unequivocally condemned by the scientific community and activists. Kamakoti sparked a huge controversy by claiming recently that cow urine can heal a variety of illnesses, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and fever.

Experts, including a doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, refuted Kamakoti’s remarks and said that the IIT Madras chief was peddling “pseudoscience”.

“In fact, medical research shows that drinking cow urine leads to medical problems in one’s liver and kidney, with risks looming large about their failure if one does not stop drinking it,” said a practicing Doctor of Medicine (MD) at AIIMS Delhi requesting anonymity.

“There is no scientific evidence to back the claims of the IIT Director. Being someone who is heading a scientific institute, he must ensure promoting science, but he is instead busy promoting pseudoscience,” said a scientist at BM Birla Science Centre in Hyderabad. “Scientifically speaking, cow urine has more harmful bacteria than anti-bacterial properties,” the scientist added.

Backing their claims is a report published in April 2023 by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), the country’s top animal research body. The study conducted at the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) - IVRI, led by Bhoj Raj Singh along with three PhD students, stated that urine collected from healthy cows contained 14 types of harmful bacteria and is not fit for human consumption. Most importantly, according to the study, the most common harmful substance detected in cow urine was Escherichia coli, a bacteria which may cause stomach illnesses.

“Not a single Indian institute finds a place in the top 100 of the QS world university rankings. Even in QS Asia rankings, there are just two institutes (IIT Delhi at 44th and IIT Bombay at 48th) in the top 50. The research quality of our universities is not improving despite the government spending thousands of crores on these institutes. The reason for that is people with a regressive mindset are heading our institutions. Earlier, our universities promoted progressive ideas,” said Anupam, a youth leader and the founder of Yuva Halla Bol.

“Ever since independence, developing scientific temper was a priority for our country, but that has been changing in recent years and it reflects on such comments being made by an office-bearer of a top engineering institute,” added Anupam, who is also an engineer.