Lok Sabha Question No. 357 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-15
Subject: Shortage of Veterinarians
Ministry: FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING
Asked by: Amar Singh

## MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 357 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15 TH  SEPTEMBER, 2020

## SHORTAGE OF VETERINARIANS

## 357. SHRI DR AMAR SINGH:

Will  the  Minister  of  FISHERIES,  ANIMAL  HUSBANDRY  AND  DAIRYING मात्स्यिकी , पशुपालन और डेिरी मंत्री be pleased to state that

- (a)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  the shortage of veterinarians in view of the fact that it is the responsibility of veterinarians to contribute in keeping the nation healthy by increasing availability of animal protein and also that veterinarians will play a big role in helping achieve Government's aim to double farmers' income by 2022;
- (b)  the  efforts  made/to  be  made  by  the  Government  to  increase  the production of livestock, poultry and fish so that the country's citizens are well-nourished and healthy; and
- (c) the measures taken/propose to be taken to open cow sanctuaries and to bring  animal  ambulance  at  farmers'  doorsteps  throughout  the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (SHRI SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

- (a)  Animal Husbandry is a state subject and veterinary services, including deployment of veterinarians, are provided by respective State Governments  as per their requirements. As against the estimated requirement of 67514 veterinarians as per recommendations of National Commission  on  Agriculture  (NCA)1976,  to  provide  accessible  veterinary health care in the country, there are 68680  registered veterinary practitioners  as  on  31/03/2019.  Further,  to  augment  the  availability  of veterinarians  in  the  country,  the  Central  Government  has  taken  various steps  such  as  recognition  veterinary  colleges  from  36  in  2014  to  54  in 2020 and allowing increase in number of seats in the existing veterinary
- colleges  thereby  increasing  the  availability  of  veterinary  professionals from the recognized veterinary colleges.
- (b) In order to complement and supplement the efforts made by the State and UTs to enhance production and productivity of livestock and poultry, Government of India is implementing the following schemes -
- (i) Rashtriya Gokul Mission
- (ii) National Programme for Dairy Development
- (iii) National Livestock Mission
- (iv) Livestock Health and Disease Control
- (v)  National  Animal  Disease  Control  Programmefor  control  of  Foot  and Mouth disease (FMD) and Brucellosis.

To  address  infrastructure  requirements  of  the  fisheries  sector,  Central Government is implementing the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF)wherein concessional finance is provided to the Eligible  Entities  (EEs)  including  State  Governments/Union  Territories, cooperatives, individuals and entrepreneurs for development of identified fisheries infrastructure. Further, Government  has launched Pradhan Mantri MatsyaSampada Yojana(PMMSY) as a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Covid-19 relief package of Rs. 20,050 crores for a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

- (c) Central Government  does  not undertake establishment of cow sanctuaries.  However,  assistance  has  been  released  to  the  States  for establishment  of  Gokul  Grams  for  development  and  conservation  of indigenous  breeds  of  cattle  and  buffaloes  in  a  scientific  and  holistic manner. Veterinary hospitals, veterinary dispensaries and Animal Ambulances at farmer's doorsteps are set up by respective States/Union Territories'governments. However,  to supplement  the  efforts of the States/ Union Territories' governments, Government is implementing the 'Establishment  &  Strengthening  of  Veterinary  Hospitals  &  Dispensaries (ESVHD)', a component under the Livestock and Disease Control Scheme to  provide  financial  assistance  for  establishment  &  strengthening  of veterinary hospitals &  dispensaries as well as for running mobile veterinary clinics (MVC).