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Zero fund allocation to protect livestock from disease, chides Parliamentary panel

New Delhi, August 12:  Veterinary care has hit alarming lows in India which boasts a livestock population of over 54 crores. This is reflected by the fact that some of the disease control programmes received “zero allocations” during the 2020-21 financial year.

Visibly dismayed, a Parliamentary panel has hauled the government, demanding “necessary explanation” as it expressed its concern over the nil financial progress and zero physical achievement.

It pointed out the three programmes under the overarching Livestock Health and Disease Control (LH&DC) initiative of the government who received zero fund allocation during the last financial year. They are Professional Efficiency Development (PED), National Animal Disease Reporting System (NADRS) and Classical Swine Fever Control Programme (CSF-CP).

Under the CSF-CP scheme, for example,  zero achievements were recorded in the vaccination of the pigs in the northeastern states during the 2020-21 and zero training was conducted under PED during the last three financial years.

What intrigued the committee was that despite no financial and physical progress, fund utilisation remained 100 per cent.

“Taking a negative view of such a misleading approach of the Department, the Committee strongly desire that necessary explanation be furnished about non-achievement of physical and financial targets…” the Standing Committee on Agriculture in its report tabled in Parliament this week.

The committee’s recommendation followed its examination of the ‘status of veterinary services and availability of animal vaccine in the country’.

The report quoting the Centre’s reply that there are a total of 65,894 veterinary institutes in the country which include veterinary hospitals and dispensaries.

The National Commission on Agriculture (NCA), 1976 had recommended that there should be one veterinary doctor/Institution for 5000 cattle units by 2000.

According to the report, the states with deficient veterinary infrastructure are Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, with the deficient rate in Gujarat standing at 82.7 per cent as of January 2019.

No specific provisions for mobile veterinary diagnostic labs under Livestock Health and Disease Control Scheme.

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