By Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Mar 26: The construction of 229 new veterinary hospitals and dispensaries in the different areas of the State is in offing and the Government has sent a proposal to Centre in this regard.
This was stated by Minister of Animal and Sheep Husbandry Aga Syed Ruhullah, while replying to the annual grants of his Ministry in the State Assembly during second sitting here this afternoon.
The Minister said that these hospitals will be constructed at an estimated cost of ` 28.74 crore and he expressed the hope that proposal will be sanctioned by Union Government this year.
The Minister said that for boosting the animal, sheep and poultry sector in the State the role of private sector has become imperative. “If you want to strengthen this sector the thrust on privatization is needed”. This way the State can increase its own production of milk, mutton and chicken and save its money spent on import of these items. Besides this can also help in removing unemployment, he added.
The Minister said there are six to 10 schemes, which are given assistance from Centre and State at present.
Maintaining that State is self sufficient in dairy production but it needs to produce more to meet the needs of tourists. To bridge the gap and become self sufficient in the production the Government introduced DEDS scheme in the State and under this scheme 3416 units were established, he added.
The Minister said the general category applicants seeking loan under this scheme will be given 25 percent subsidy while SC and ST category people will be given 33 percent loan.
He said 88 mini sheep Farms under State plan and 53 units of sheep/goat under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna have been established during 2011 -12 till date. An estimated number of 5000 unemployed persons have been provided employment by establishing these units, the Minister added.
He said the annual milk production in the State has touched 1889 MTs.
Regarding the achievements of poultry sector, he said the Department has launched a centrally sponsored scheme “Rural Poultry Backyard Unit Scheme” under which 2 month old low input technology Vanraja birds are distributed among the BPL families. Under this scheme ` 778.00 lakh have been sanctioned for 36,000 BPL families and 14,195 BPL families have been provided 3.5 lakh imported birds free of cost so far, he added.
Aga Ruhulla said a National Animal Disease Report System has also been introduced during the current year, which envisages real time reporting of any disease outbreak from the remotest corner of the State. The block headquarters are being connected through internet so that monitoring of the disease can be checked at district and State level. Besides adequate and prompt response is taken due care of to contain and control any such eventuality. The rapid response teams have been trained and put in place in all the districts particularly in view of emerging diseases like Avian Influnza, he added.
The Minister said the recommendations of Planning Commission, Government of India, a Corpus Fund of ` 2.00 crore has been created for meeting the requirement of feed, fodder and medicines for threatened breeds of Zanaskari Horse in Kargil and Double humped camel in Leh.
Aga Ruhullah said that Department is embarking on latest technological advances viz: Embryo Transfer Technology (ETT) for fast tract replication of small ruminants. The ETT Laboratory is being established at Panthal for experimentation of Dorper Breed of Sheep and its introduction after validation in collaboration with SKUAST Jammu.
The Minster said establishment of 71 mobile Ambulatory Services to run veterinary services like artificial insemination, progeny verification etc at the farmers door steps in remote villages/ areas where veterinary institutions are inadequate, is under active consideration of the Government.
He said Centre has approved setting up of a Modern Abattoir at Wanihama, Srinagar at a cost of ` 28 crore out of which ` 14.10 crore is grant in aid. The process of selection of its consultant is on, he added.
Asserting the State is endowed with a huge livestock wealth being reared under different agro climatic conditions, the Minister said that livestock sector contributes 11% to the state GDP where as the contribution made by this sector to agriculture and allied sectors has touched 40% mark.
Total 18 members participated in the debate. They included Ch Zulfkar, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, G M Saroori, Tsetan Namgyal, Bharat Bhushan, Dr Mustafa Kamal, Dr Mohammed Shafi, Ashok Kumar, Durga Dass, G A Mir, Abdul Majid Wani, Ch Sukhnandan, Ashwani Sharma, Krishan Chander, Nazir Gurezi, Feroz Khan, Abdul Haq Khan and Engineer Rashid.
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