Activities of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Sector Reviewed

Eastern Regional Meeting Held at Bhubaneswar Odisha's Effort Commended

Bhubaneswar, 12/09/2024
A regional review meeting on Animal Husbandry and Dairy Sector of five Eastern states i.e.,
Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands hosted
by the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India in collaboration with
Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department, Government of Odisha was organised
today at Bhubaneswar.
The meeting kicked off with Green Inauguration by the Smt. Alka Upadhyay, Secretary,
Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India, who chaired over.
The Principal Secretary, F&ARD Department, Govt. of Odisha, Sri Suresh Kumar Vashishth
while welcoming the Senior officers from DAHD, GoI and the participating States acknowledged the
presence of the dignitaries. Ms. Varsha Joshi, Additional Secretary, DAHD, GoI set the context for the
discussions ahead. Ms. Joshi discussed revised financial rules, emphasized on the mechanism of CNA
and SNA. She stressed the importance of strategic spending, where States should request and utilize
funds based on need-based requirements within the given financial year. She also underlined that
the main focus of discussion in the meeting will be the upcoming 21st Livestock Census and the
National Livestock Mission.
The Chairperson took a vivid review of the Eastern states on the progress of the Central
Sector and Central Sponsored schemes like RGM (Rashtriya Gokul Mission), Livestock Health, NLM
(National Livestock Mission), Dairy Development Schemes, Implementation of SNA Sparsh, AHIDF
(Animal Husbandry infrastructure Development Fund), Progress of PM Gati Shakti Programme,
Livestock Census, and Integrated Sample Survey.
The Secretary and the Additional Secretary of DAHD acknowledged and commended the
efforts of the Odisha Govt who has shown a good conception rate is 33% (32.87). In contrast,
the country’s conception rate is 18% under the Artificial Breed Improvement Programme by Sex
Sorted Semen.
A thorough discussion was held on the current progress of activities like vaccination of
livestock under National Animal Diseases Control Programme, artificial insemination under
Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme, schematic progress under National Livestock Mission
viz. goat farm units, dairy farm units, fodder units and training programmes were discussed in detail
and the difficulties faced by states in implementation of the programmes were taken note of.
In the review meeting, Smt. Upadhyay, also emphasized the significance of the 21st
Livestock Census, which the Prime Minister of India is expected to announce in the first week of
October, and requested that all States complete their training as soon as possible.

A number of matters relating to physical and financial progress of all the schemes being
implemented by the States such as the importance of onboarding of schemes in SNA SPARSH for all
States., transfer of funds from treasury to SNA account, liquidation of unspent balance lying with the
states, status of submission of fresh proposal for FY 2024-25, entrepreneurship development
programmes of DAHD, issues related to vaccination programmes, and reconstitution status of State
Animal Welfare Board were discussed in the review meeting.
Each state showcased the best practices of the Livestock sector of their respective
states through PowerPoint and video presentation outlining its current difficulties before the Central
Government for further discussion and resolution. Dr. Badal Vishwakarma, Director Livestock Health,
GoI proposed vote of thanks.