Mobile veterinary clinics in every constituency

Amaravati: The government will start mobile veterinary clinics in every constituency in the state soon. Replying to a member during question hour in the Assembly on Wednesday, animal husbandry and marketing minister C Adinarayana Reddy said the mobile veterinary clinic will have one veterinary doctor, a paravet and driver-cum-attendant and provide treatment to sick animals at the doorstep of farmers.

He said these mobile clinics will cater to the needs of farming  community round-the-clock and act as a link between livestock farmers and animal husbandry department. 

The minister said the government has set a target to increase milk production from 12 to 20 per cent in the total production of the country. Stating that the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was keen on the progress of dairy products in the state, the minister said the unit cost of purchasing buffaloes would be increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. 

However, several MLAs expressed concern over the declining cattle population in the state. MLA Alapati Rajendra Prasad said that even the government records show the growth in milk production, but the number of cows and buffaloes were declining continuously year after year. 

Even the state government had introduced various schemes to provide livelihood by rearing buffaloes but those are not helpful to beneficiaries, he said.

MLAs Gollapalli Surya Rao, T Sravan Kumar and K Mrunalini also raised the issue by finding fault with the animal husbandry department in the implementation of schemes in their respective constituencies. 

They asked the government to give liberty to purchase buffaloes as per their wish instead of imposing restrictions. The minister assured them that the government would take all necessary steps to protect the interests of beneficiaries. Adinarayana Reddy said the government had already made changes in policy to purchase buffaloes from neighbouring states instead of Haryana only.