The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked vice-chancellors of varsities across the country to "encourage" students to take an online voluntary national-level exam to test their knowledge on cow science.

The 'Kamdhenu Gau Vigyan Prachar-Prasar Examination', for which there is no registration fee, will be held on February 25, and students from primary, secondary and senior secondary schools as well as colleges can take the test being conducted by the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog.

Besides, them anyone from the general public can also take the hour-long multiple choice question-based exam that will be held in 11 regional languages and English.The commission was constituted by the government for conservation, preservation, protection and development of cows.

The exam on February 25 aims to "infuse curiosity into all Indians about cows and make them aware of the unexplored potential and business opportunities a cow can offer, even after it stops giving milk", the RKA had said in its notification for the exam on January 5.

UGC secretary Rajnish Jain in a letter to vice-chancellors said that "you are aware the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, established in February 2019, has been working on dissemination of information on economic, scientific, environmental, health, agriculture and spiritual relevance of indigenous cow in the country".

The exam will be conducted in English, Hindi, Gujarati, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu and Odia.