Jammu, April 27 (Scoop News) –J&K Veterinary Doctors Association- Jammu in collaboration with the Department of Animal and Sheep Husbandry organized a function at Government Women’s College, Gandhi Nagar to mark the “World Veterinary Day” which is being celebrated all over the World here today.
Minister of State for Animal, Sheep Husbandry, Agriculture, Horticulture and Floriculture Nazir Ahmad Gurezi was the chief guest while Secretary Animal / Sheep Husbandry Department Mohd Ashraf Bukhari was the Guest of Honour on the occasion.
It is pertinent to mention here that the “World Veterinary Day” was coined by the World Veterinary Association in the year 2000 and it was decided to celebrate the function on the last Saturday of April month of every year.
Since every year the World Veterinary Day is celebrated with a different theme and this year’s theme being “Vaccination to Protect and Prevent”
Speaking on the occasion the Minister emphasized on the importance of Vaccinations of the livestock and also on the role of Veterinarians in improving the living conditions of the poor farmers of the State especially those living below the poverty line and sheered the Veterinarians to work at the grass root level and bring out good results.
He also declared that from this year the week following the World Veterinary Day would be celebrated as “Vaccination Week”
Gurezi said that under animal and sheep sectors several schemes have been introduced besides sufficient funds have been earmarked under these sectors during the financial year 2013-14 with an aim to create employment opportunities for the youth of the State.
He said today we import livestock to cater requirement of the State and impressed upon the officers of the departments to work with utmost zeal and dedication to increase the production. He said the department’s job is to educate farmers about the latest techniques for the upliftment of their business establishments.
M A Bukhari emphasized on improving the work- culture of the department and also administered the Veterinarian Oath to all the Doctors present to refresh the basic ideals of the profession.
Director Animal Husbandry, Dr. P K Magotra, Director Sheep Husbandry Department Dr. S K Sharma, Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, SKUAST-J Dr. S K Gupta, Dr. Bhupinder Singh, President, Retired Veterinary Doctors Club alongwith all the retired Veterinary Doctors of the Department was present on the occasion.
From the association side apart from the Vice –President, Dr. Rahul Dev, Secretary, Dr. Jaswant Singh, Publicity Secretary, Dr. Vinay Vishal Sharma, Treasurer, Dr. Majid Iqbal Malik, District Executive (AH), Dr. R B Singh, District Executive (SH) and others were present.
In addition, the programme was attended by all the Doctors from the Animal and Sheep Husbandry Department from all over the Jammu province.
Earlier, the programme started with the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries and welcome address of the Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Vice- President, JKVDA-J who welcomed the dignitaries and highlighted the role of the Veterinary Doctors in keeping the animal health of the State and also improving the economy of the State through production and as well as protecting the human health through the control of spread of the zoonotic diseases.
A book titled Wool Fiber authored by Ex- Director Sheep Husbandry Department, Dr. Jia Lal, was also released on the occasion by the Minister.
The programme also included a technical session in which a “Workshop on the latest trends in the prevention and cure of Animal Diseases” was also held.
Secretary, J&K Veterinary Doctors Association- Jammu Dr. Rahul Dev presented vote of thanks.
Minister of State for Animal and Sheep Husbandry, Agriculture, Horticulture and Floriculture Nazir Ahmed Gurezi today also urated Small Ruminant Hospital at Lal Mandi Srinagar under Centrally Sponsored Scheme ESVHD on the occasion of World Veterinary Day. The function was organized by the department of Sheep Husbandry Kashmir division.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that the hospital will serve the small ruminant sheep and goat population of district Srinagar. The hospital will be equipped with modern healthcare facilities to cater the emerging needs of the healthy livestock. He said such hospitals have also been constructed in other districts of the State.
Gurezi said that the hospital has Ultra Sonography (USG) facilities for the livestock to detect different ailments and pregnancy, which is first of its kind in the State.
The Minister emphasized for introducing the latest technology in all productive sectors like agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and livestock to increase the socio-economic conditions of the farming community. He said that this is key source to ensure the economic growth of the state in general and farming community in particular as agriculture is the back bone of the State economy. He stressed for artificial insemination and dosing besides conducting random tests of all drugs so as to ensure quality medicare facilities for the livestock.
The Minister directed the officers and officials to work with utmost zeal and dedication. He said dedicated officials will be rewarded while as erring officials will be seriously dealt with.
The Minister called for launching of awareness campaign at block levels to aware the farmers and breeders about the latest techniques and the schemes meant for the welfare of the sheep and cattle rearers. He called for organizing cattle shows and vaccination day in the state.