GURMEET SINGH KHUDIAN: PUNJAB TO HYPERECT 300 VETERINARY OFFICERS SOON
Complete the vaccination campaign against FMD and hemorrhagic simian fever by June 30, as directed by the Minister of Animal Husbandry.
According to S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, and Fisheries, Punjab, the government of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann is planning to hire 300 veterinary officers in order to bolster the state’s animal healthcare system. This announcement was made here on Friday.
The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) has already started the recruitment process, the Cabinet Minister announced while examining the department’s ongoing initiatives in his office. Notably, in only the past two years, the state government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has hired up to 326 Veterinary Officers and 536 Veterinary Inspectors.
He announced that the Government of India had received an action plan costing Rs 93 crore for the purchase of supplies and equipment for veterinary facilities.
Additionally, he gave department staff instructions to finish the vaccine campaign against hemorrhagic septicaemia and foot and mouth disease (FMD) by June 30, 2024. Director of Animal Husbandry Dr. Ranjiv Bali informed the cabinet minister that around 78% and 75% of cattle have been covered under the drives against FMD and hemorrhagic septicaemia, respectively, thus far, while guaranteeing the minister that the campaign will be completed within the allotted time period.
According to S. Gurmeet Singh Khudian, the Dairy Development Department is offering 33% financial assistance to beneficiaries of the scheduled caste category and 25% financial assistance to the general category for the purchase of milch animals, at the prescribed rate of Rs. 70,000 per animal, in an effort to encourage farmers to adopt dairy farming. He said that during 2023–2024, the department provided financial support for 1,089 milch cattle totaling about Rs. 2 crore.
He stated that under the National Livestock Scheme, which offers financial support to small and medium-sized milk producers for the insurance of one to five milch animals, the department has also given financial assistance for 7200 milch animals to livestock farmers in the last five weeks. According to the Minister of Animal Husbandry, financial help for SC farmers is seventy percent, while financial assistance for the general category is fifty percent.
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