Urges more interaction between various stakeholders
A virtual interaction was held with Members of Parliament of Northern States namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh and Ladakh under the chairmanship of Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The meeting was attended by the Secretary, Joint Secretaries and senior officers of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, GoI.
During the interaction, Rupala apprised the Members of Parliament about the current developments in the animal husbandry and dairying sector, scheme benefits and discussed various strategies for better implementation of livestock and dairy schemes in the field, so that a large number of farmers can reap benefits from the sector.
The minister informed that as per the recent Cabinet decision, the National Livestock Mission and Rashtriya Gokul Mission schemes now have a component of breeder farm entrepreneurs and fodder entrepreneurs. Under RGM, for breed multiplication farms for production and supply of high genetic merit heifers to farmers, 50 per cent capital subsidy will be made available to entrepreneurs directly. National Livestock Mission (NLM) will help in creating rural Entrepreneurship and also in creating better livelihood opportunities for unemployed youth and livestock farmers in the cattle, dairy, poultry, sheep, goat, piggery, feed and fodder sector paving the way towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat by giving 50 per cent subsidy through a hub-spoke model.
The minister highlighted that the realigned National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) is focusing on milk procurement, processing, marketing and quality of milk and milk products and Livestock Health and Disease Control aims to reduce risk to animal health by prophylactic vaccination against diseases of livestock and poultry, capacity building of Veterinary services, disease surveillance and strengthening veterinary infrastructure. Further, the operationalisation of mobile veterinary Units (MVUs) in states will facilitate delivering animal health services at farmers’ doorsteps.
The minister envisaged that awareness campaigns should be organised across states with the active participation of the Union Government, state governments and district officials for better outreach of scheme benefits to the livestock and dairy farmers. The minister appreciated Members of Parliament for their participation in the interaction and assured that the Ministry will take up their suggestions towards further growth of the sector.
