A makeover is on the cards for the Animal Husbandry Department, with the focus primarily on farmer-friendly restructuring of departmental institutions and heightened vigil against diseases.
Animal Husbandry Director M.K. Prasad handed over an internally prepared draft report containing the recommendations to Animal Husbandry Minister K. Raju last week. It stresses the scientific restructuring of department check-posts to forestall the spread of diseases like foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) through animals trucked in from neighbouring States.
At present, only of two of the 18 rinderpest (RP) check-posts under the department have veterinary surgeons, the draft points out. Their presence is essential for effective disease diagnosis. Many check-posts also have not been repositioned despite road development and changed routes. All check-posts, the report adds, should also have a minimum of three livestock inspectors.
Filling vacancies
Stressing the need for filling critical vacancies, including that of lab technicians, the draft suggests a series of structural changes to enable department veterinarians to spend more time on disease-control measures and interaction with farmers.
It recommends the formation of more taluk-level animal husbandry centres. This will help to bring in efficiency and reduce the burden of District Animal Husbandry Officers who are currently in charge of all such institutions in a district.
Relocating centres
The draft report advises relocating veterinary sub-centres on the basis of factors such as cattle population and geography. Though the State has 1,341 sub-centres, many local bodies lack one. At the same time, some panchayats with low cattle population sport more than two centres. A redeployment would enable timely services to farmers and reduce the workload of veterinary hospitals, the report pointed out.
If a district has multiple veterinary hospitals, they can be shifted to agriculture-oriented districts like Wayanad and Idukki, it says, in addition to outlining measures for streamlining veterinary polyclinics. Polyclinics should be opened in all taluks and they should function from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. At present, there are 50 polyclinics in the State.
