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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Oct. 21 (EMN): Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, flagged off 16 mobile veterinary units (MVUs) in the presence of Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio at Secretariat Plaza in Kohima, on Friday.
The mobile veterinary units are meant for 12 districts of the state, and one each for Elisa laboratory, Veterinary Field Assistant Training Institute, vaccine bank and state-level monitoring centre.
The union minister said during the launch of the veterinary van that the prime minister’s sympathy and feelings for animals has reached every border of the country, which is his vision of New India.
‘For a state with hilly terrain like Nagaland, the difficulty lies in reaching the animals on time. While animals cannot come to the veterinary hospital, the veterinarians are also not able to reach them on time and it becomes challenging to provide healthcare to the animals,’ he said while urging livestock farmers to avail the benefits and approach him in case of any issues.
He said the MVUs will help the state as it has animals and birds in abundance.
‘The MVUs for the department of Animal and Husbandry is a big gift from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, not only for the people of the country but also for the animals and birds after Independence,’ he said, adding that Nagaland will soon become self sufficient in producing milk, meat and eggs for consumption.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said the MVUs are “most needed” and urged the veterinary mobile clinics to reach the animals in the far-flung areas.
The animal will not come looking for centres and hospitals; it is the doctors and medicine people who have to reach them and the mobile units will make the job easier, he said.
The mobile units will do a lot of traveling, reaching out to animals and carry out diagnosis, collect samples, provide vaccinations and artificial inseminations and conduct minor surgeries, other than giving medicines required for treating illness, he added.
He expressed hope that the department, doctors and helpers will make good use of the equipment and keep animals healthy. In this way, it will bring wealth and also encourage farmers to start rearing piggery, dairy, fisheries and other animal activities.
The chief minister also said that the state has a lot of requirements as 70% of its population is dependent on agriculture.
“We are not vegetarian but we are meatarian. We cannot do without meat,” Rio said.
While maintaining that Nagaland imports beef, pork, fish, and other meat, he said the state still does not have a mechanism to check the health of animals that are brought to the state. Therefore, it will be healthier if people can rear fish, cows, pigs, and chickens, he added.
Rio also requested the union minister to sanction the demand for professors and lecturers required for running the veterinary institute in the state.
‘We have, by name, a veterinary college and we have students enrolled. But we don’t have the required number of professors and associate professors, lecturers, and that’s how the students are deprived,’ he said.
‘Since they cannot drop out, the government send the enrolled students to Aizawl Veterinary College and has been functioning that way,’ he added.
He also put forward a request to set up a breeding farm for pigs/ piglets in every district and distribute it to the farmers.
‘Animal feed should also be produced in all the districts and even in the sub-divisions. The business community is purchasing raw materials (feeds) from far-flung districts like Kiphire, Phek and Tuensang. They take the raw materials to Dimapur and mix them with some components and farmers buy back those feeds from them. But farmers have to produce their own feeds. Selling raw materials and buying back from far places is economically not viable,’ he said.
‘In this situation, the government is the facilitator. It should encourage entrepreneurs to take up the business of animal feeds, and breeding farms and centres. Exclusive training should be given to those interested. After training, the financial support from the government, centres, and even from the bank should make them become farmers in a bigger way with all the equipment in place.
‘This is not the age of the government to open demonstration farms or camps. They should train the citizens and the entrepreneurs should take over the business as the government will not do business. It is the youth and citizens who should come forward and take up entrepreneurship and only then can the state move forward,’ the CM said.
In Nagaland, citizens depend on the government for everything, he lamented and called upon the people to come out of that mindset and start working.
The MVUs are central assistance to the states under Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme with the main objective to increase accessibility or veterinary service to farmer’s doorsteps.
