Out to tackle lumpy skin disease, Punjab Govt stung by severe staff crunch

Tribune News Service

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, September 5

The outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) has brought to fore shortage of staff in the Animal Husbandry Department, because of which controlling the disease has become challenging.

There is a huge shortage of Veterinary Officers and Veterinary Inspectors in the state. Not even 50 per cent posts of Veterinary Officer are filled in Nawanshahr and Kapurthala. The situation is no better in Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur too.

In Hoshiarpur, there are 97 sanctioned posts of Veterinary Officer, but 35 are lying vacant. Only 55 Veterinary Inspectors are working against 127 sanctioned posts.

Of the 93 sanctioned posts of Veterinary Officer in Jalandhar, only 52 are filled, while there are only 22 Veterinary Inspectors against 114 posts.

In Nawanshahr, there are 22 Veterinary Officers against the requirement of 55. The sanctioned posts for Veterinary Inspector is 50, but 34 are lying vacant.

In all, 45 posts of Veterinary Officer are sanctioned in Kapurthala, but only 15 are filled. As for Veterinary Inspectors, 12 posts are filled against the requirement of 66.

Teams have been constituted at the district level to control the LSD, but reaching every part is not an easy task in view of staff shortage.

Tarpreet Singh, a farmer associated with the Kirti Kisan Union, said that he and other farmers met Nakodar MLA Inderjit Kaur Mann today and raised flagged staff crunch in veterinary hospitals.

“The MLA assured us of taking up the matter with the higher authorities. In my area, there is dearth of government doctors, while private ones charge hefty fee,” Singh said.

Harmaninder Singh, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, Jalandhar, claimed the situation was under control in the district and the teams were doing their work properly. “New staff will be recruited soon,” he said.

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