Vets-on-wheels to help dairy farmers

The Jammu and Kashmir government has planned to set up 71 mobile veterinary centres in the state in an effort to strengthen the animal and sheep husbandry sector, a minister said on Saturday.

“The government will set up 71 mobile veterinary centres across the state. 214 posts have been sanctioned at various categories to strengthen this sector,” said Nazir Ahmed Gurezi, J&K minister for animal and sheep husbandry.

He said the government also plans to provide mobile ambulatory vehicles fitted with geographical positioning system (GPS) for the mobile centres at a cost of around Rs 7 crore.

The ministry for animal and sheep husbandry is also examining a proposal to invite credible non-government organisations and private players to take up genetic upgrading and provide other veterinary services in remote and far flung areas of the state, Gurezi said.

The minister said a centrally sponsored scheme ‘National Animal Disease Reporting System’ (NADRS) has also been launched to link all blocks and districts of the state with a nodal central agency for better monitoring and control of trans-boundary diseases among animals.