Animal care services in Odisha are in the middle of an escalating crisis, with veterinary doctors on mass leave for more than three weeks. Dispensaries have been almost shut, emergency services stand crippled, while operations of critical facilities under the various wings of the state’s fisheries and animal resources development department are in limbo. If unofficial reports are to be believed, over 9,000 animals have died in the absence of care during this period. So far as the plight of farmers, commercial farms as well as pet owners is concerned, the lesser said the better. For the dairy and poultry sectors in rural areas, the livelihood of lakhs is at stake.
Veterinary doctors have been seeking better avenues for promotion through cadre restructuring, a non-practice allowance which is prevalent in many other states apart from better diagnostic services at district-levels, round-the-clock service for farmers, and an overhaul of the animal resources department, which clearly needs more attention. Yet, the Naveen Patnaik government has not budged. The only meeting with the government the agitating veterinarians could manage after 25 days of strike was on Monday, which ended without a result. The veterinarians’ community feels it has been short-changed. Would the government have adopted a similar stoic stand had it been the general doctors or other medical practitioners? Even when private bus operators called for a strike a couple of months back, the state administration was in a frenzy to sort it out. Why this discrimination?
Odisha’s livestock population stands at 1.8 crore (large and small animals), and there are just 1,340-odd veterinary doctors to serve them. Close to 40 percent of them are engaged in various schematic programmes and so are not on field duty for treatment and care. In plain words, there is just one vet available for about 22,000 animals; then there are birds too, which need care. The livestock sector’s share in the state’s gross value added is 3.37 percent, while its annual growth tops other primary sectors. For the small and marginal farmers, who constitute 90 percent of the farming community, these animals bring in additional income. It is surprising the government has remained unmoved by the agitation for such a long time despite being aware of its far-reaching consequences. It would be prudent to hold discussions and end the stalemate at the earliest.