Officials warned over negligence in livestock census in Malerkotla

With the intent to facilitate the Punjab Government to draft efficient policies for the welfare of animal breeders without further delay, the district administration has cautioned government personnel in Animal Husbandry Department over the negligence in completing the livestock census process within the stipulated period.

Senior functionaries, including District Nodal Officer and in-charges of all teams of enumerators, were advised to ensured that the progress of the process is monitored and daily reported to the district administration so that the accurate number of heads of each variety of sixteen types of animals can be tracked and the date related to the dependence of owners on the livestock and classification of breeders is provided for further analysis and consideration at the state level within the desired time framework.

“Having kicked off the census process, all constituents of six teams of enumerators should be sensitised about the importance of the exercise being conducted,” said ADC Sukhpreet Singh Sidhu, adding that special teams of senior functionaries had been constituted to crosscheck the digital date uploaded by the teams.

District Veterinary Officer Dr Sukhwinder Singh and nodal officer Dr Pardeep Singh said it was for the first time that the details of animals at gaushalas and deras of nomadic animal breeders would be recorded and submitted separately. They said the focus would be on the role of women in rearing animals, including cows, buffaloes, pigs, poultry and other domestic animals.

Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian had earlier kicked off the 21st livestock census from Muktsar Sahib two days ago.

Responding to the call given by the minister, the Malerkotla district administration had already launched the process of the enumeration and preparation of reports for further submission to the state authorities, said DC Pallavi.