Vets bleat about sheep scheme

Hyderabad: The much-touted sheep distribution scheme has hit a road block following the veterinary doctors’ decision not to cooperate with sheep distribution programme.The talks between their Association and Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav ended in failure here on Wednesday.

The Veterinary Assistant Surgeons’ Service Association which held a meeting on Thursday in Hyderabad has decided to not to take part in sheep distribution programme. Their demands include adopting a new approach in the distribution of sheep by involving private agencies.

Ever since the launch of the scheme, they have been demanding the State government to call for a ‘tender process’ which would ease their workload. The doctors who are part of the teams formed by the State government to reach out to other States in search of sheep are unable to cope up with the new kind of task, which was not part of their job description.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Thursday, P Pentaiah, president of Veterinary Assistant Surgeons’ Service Association, said “During the meeting with the Minister on Wednesday, we were given an assurance that within the next 10 days, a decision would be taken about the feasibility of coming up with a new strategy. Since the negotiations are still going on, we have decided to stick to our decision, until the demands are met.”

A total of 1,148 doctors and officials are directly engaged in procurement of sheep from other states, including Andhra Pradesh, sometimes staying there for over a week.

Even as the sheep distribution scheme was launched with much fanfare on June 20, the doctors remained skeptical about its implementation, as the sheep remained unavailable as per the specifications (above one and half year and below 2 years). As per the government plans, 1.5 crore sheep (7.18 lakh units) should be distributed within two years.

By Md Nizamuddin