A shepherd in search of a lamb!

The sheep distribution scheme gave a quantum jump to the rural economy and is designed for the uplift of Yadava, Golla, Kuruma families who are approximately 4 lakhs in the Telangana state

Hyderabad: The sheep distribution programme scheduled to begin from June 9 is posing a major challenge for the officials as they are not able to get the required quantity of sheep in the state and hence are now busy scouting for the same from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. This scheme gave a quantum jump to the rural economy and is designed for the upliftment of Yadava, Golla, Kuruma families who are approximately 4 lakhs in the state.

Officials told Hans India that there is a big demand from the beneficiaries for local breeds, which are mostly available in AP only. The local sheep growers in Telangana were not willing to sell their herd due to various reasons, including lesser price offered by the government as compared to the same in the open market. Moreover, there are not many big farms in Telangana where they can buy sheep in bulk. Those who have sheep claim that they have already entered into an agreement with big buyers who use sheep for commercial purposes like selling of meat in the cities where the demand is high. An official form Khammam district said that a group of officials was in Nellore and Kadapa districts in the Rayalaseema region to buy sheep and bring them to the district before Friday.

The officials of many districts are now in Andhra Pradesh while some officials from Medak, Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar have gone to Karnataka to scout for sheep but the availability is not to their expectations, they said.

The traditional shepherd families will be supported with the supply of (20+1 Ram) sheep on 75 per cent subsidy under the sheep distribution programme. According to official figures, there are 8,109 Primary Sheep Breeders' Cooperative Societies in the state with 7,61,895 members.

So far, the state government has distributed a total of 82,64,592 sheep. Those sheep gave birth to another 1 crore 32 lakh lambs, and with these sheep, the Gollas and Kurumas accumulated the wealth of more than Rs 7,920 crore, the official figures said.