To tackle the growing menace of stray dogs in Punjab, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday constituted a working group under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Satish Chandra.
Capt Amarinder, presiding over a high level meeting to discuss the growing incidents of dog bites in the state, directed the Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh to explore possibility to take support from the Central Government to eradicate the problem.
At the same time, he asked the Chief Secretary to regularly monitor the progress of implementation and achievement of the specific targets under the action plan given to all the Deputy Commissioners in this regard.
The Working Group, set up to suggest ways to address the problem, has been asked to submit its report within two weeks. It has been mandated with the task of finalizing the action plan to check the stray dogs menace in a result-oriented manner, with a time-bound strategy to control their population.
Principal Secretary (Rural Development and Panchayats) DK Tiwari are members of the Group, which has Principal Secretary (Animal Husbandry) Raj Kamal Chaudhary as its convenor besides Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) Vice Chancellor Dr AS Nanda to provide technical support.
Expressing concern over the growing problem, which had assumed alarming proportions, the Chief Minister also asked the Principal Secretaries of the Departments of Animal Husbandry and Rural Development and Panchayats to work out a joint strategy to install state-of-the-art rendering plants in place of the dead animals disposal yards (hadda roris), which attract stray dogs in large numbers.
The Chief Minister asked both these officers to set up rendering plants in Municipal Corporations as well as Village Panchayats for proper disposal of the remains of the dead cattle in a scientific manner.
The Chief Minister also asked the Principal Secretary Animal Husbandry to expedite the programme to sterilise stray dogs.