With Punjab Government working out a strategy to encourage farming community of the State towards diversification and making them enter into a remunerative venture other than crop cultivation, Animal Husbandry Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike on Sunday said as a part of the strategy, the department is in process of setting up world-class veterinary institutions aimed at providing timely help and guidance concerning animal rearing and other related fields.
The Minister said that a new Veterinary College and Hospital at a cost of about Rs70 crore spread over land of 25 hectares would be set up at Rampura Phul, district Bathinda. This hi-tech institute would help in increasing the economy of farmers encouraging them to adopt new ideas in the fields of animal husbandry and dairy development besides providing all the essential help in early diagnosis, treatment and control of infectious, parasitic, manage mental or other diseases concerning nutritional deficiency in animals prevalent especially in the Malwa belt of the State. Ranike said that in this part of Punjab as well as providing means to improve management practices for preventing occurrence of these diseases in future through vaccination or adopting other improved animal health aspects.
According to the Minister, the work regarding preparation of site plan map, testing of weight bearing capacity of soil, designing of buildings of Veterinary College and Hospital as per the pollution compliant norms and VCI norms, detailed structural designs of each building lay out plan for electrical work, water and sewerage outlets has already been accomplished.
The Minister said that the farmers of the area have been encouraged to go for diversification in terms of adopting animal husbandry programmes and better job opportunities by exploring the choice of Veterinary profession as an alternative to agriculture.
“It would fetch better returns from investment towards establishing a viable and profitable dairy or fishery unit and seeking time to time guidance or inputs in terms of breeding or artificial insemination and management of good quality animals free from parasitic and other infectious diseases,” said Ranike.
Veterinary College will also have a Veterinary Clinics equipped with state-of-the-art Diagnostic laboratory and Operation Theatre for large and small animals conforming to standards of Veterinary Council of India (VCI). Besides this, an instructional animal herd of buffaloes and cows would be maintained to impart training to young Veterinarians in handling, controlling, treating and conducting pregnancy diagnosis on the animals. It would also have an Animal /Fodder Farm to provide green fodder to these experimental animals, said the Minister.
The new Veterinary College will be established on a total or about 62 acres for which land has already been transferred from Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries to Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU).
Ranike said that people from Bathinda district area would be benefitted as they would not have to transport their animals a long way to ludhiana for getting advanced treatment or undergoing major surgical operations which would be done right here independently thus saving lot of time, money and hardship.