The animal (dog) birth control programme carried out by the Sahid Nagar Poly Clinic with support of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not been achieving its target due to misappropriation of fund and violation of the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) rules introduced by the Government of India. This has been alleged by Member, State Animal Welfare Board and Secretary, People for Animals (PFA) Jiban Ballav Das.
While the Union Government has strictly instructed to follow the rules while implementing the programme, it is not adhered to in Bhubaneswar, alleged Das.
Though the programme has started since 2008 and a huge amount of money has been spent for it, the street dog population is as it was before, for which the PFA is receiving a lot of public complaints about dog nuisance in different parts of the State capital city, said Das.
The reason for failure of the programme is that it has not been undertaken either by the BMC or by the Poly Clinic, Sahid Nagar, as per the rules introduced by the Union Government, he said.
As per the rules, a monitoring committee is to be constituted to look after the programme, but, instead, a retired veterinary doctor has been appointed for the purpose, which is violation of the rules. A team of trained doctors should be present and carry out operation on the dogs to achieve the target, Das said, adding that the appointed doctor is not a surgery veterinarian.
In this backdrop, a special performance audit has been demanded by the PFA and, accordingly, a complaint has been lodged with the Urban Development Department in this regard, said sources.
Minister of Urban Development, Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Debi Prasad Mishra has been apprised about the issue and has been requested to order for an investigation into it, said Das. The Minister has taken a serious note of the issue, said sources.