Up in arms against the State Government, Punjab’s veterinary doctors would lodge their protest against its lackadaisical approach towards their “legitimate demands”, including service rules, separate directorate Rural Development and Panchayats department, among others.
The rural vets have decided to boycott the forthcoming State-level Animal Fairs to be organised across the State from November 7 to December 10. The decision came close on the heels of the State’s Rural Veterinary Officers’ Association (RVOA) boycotting Artificial Insemination (AI) work based on straws supplied by the Animal Husbandry department and non-reporting to officials in the Department.
The rural vets had to resort to this as they were “fed up with the attitude of the State Animal Husbandry Department which was getting them to do a lot of work for the department’s projects and not passing any financial grants for upkeep of vet hospitals under Zila Parishads”.
RVOA’s president Dr NS Khinda said: “We have been demanding a separate directorate Rural Development and Panchayats department, independent of the Animal Husbandry department, under the Rural Development Ministry for governing 400 Rural Vets working in 582 Civil Veterinary Hospitals in Rural Punjab.”
No meeting or action had been taken in this regard and perforce we had to resort to boycott of the fairs, he said adding that Animal Fairs are being organised by Animal Husbandry Department by using finances of Rural Development Ministry although the department has the required number of veterinary doctors who can handle the work.
The boycott of work by Rural Vets in all major animal fairs across Punjab will be big setback to the smooth conduct of such fairs.