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Lalita Iyer
Lalita Iyer

WELFARE SCHEME

Sheep distribution programme comes to a halt in Telangana

telangana-sheep-scheme-pti Representative Image | PTI

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao launched the sheep distribution scheme on June 20, calling it a safety net for the Gola and Kurma communities in the rural area. This livelihood scheme was hailed as a good welfare measure for these two communities.

But the scheme has run into rough weather even before the beneficiaries received their livestock, as Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari allegedly made light of the work done by veterinary doctors. He apparently said that veterinary doctors know nothing and the shepherds know better than the doctors. This has irked the veterinarians, who have now refused to cooperate in the sheep procurement process and said that the authorities can work on their own. These doctors are responsible for grounding the scheme from sheep selection to sheep distribution.

The Telangana Animal Husbandry Officers' Service Association (TAHOSA) submitted a memorandum to the state government stating that they would not participate in the sheep distribution programme till an apology was offered by the minister. The veterinary doctors are attending to their normal duties.

Though the intentions of the chief minister and his government might have been to strengthen the rural economy, like most such programmes, the implementation has not been thought through, leading to the scheme coming to a standstill.

Veterinary doctors have also said that it was getting difficult to pick out healthy sheep for the beneficiaries and many of the sheep are being brought from Maharashtra. But there is a shortage of sheep in Maharashtra as well. Each unit consists of 21 sheep, one male and 20 females, but transporting the livestock is not without its worries either. Transport contractors tend to load more sheep than permitted and do not make any compartments as demanded by the law.

According to the specification of the Bureau of Indian Standards, only three units are allowed in each truck, whereas some farmers transport more than the required number. In many areas, it has been reported that the livestock die of suffocation. Transport contractors say it is financially not viable to take only three units and that they will come forward only when five units are allowed.

Many beneficiaries are, therefore, refusing to take the sheep because of its poor health, but local leaders are convincing them to accept the livestock, to keep the programme going.

The major block, however, is the protest by the veterinarians, as without their approval purchases cannot be made. Only 25 per cent beneficiaries have received their livestock so far, and nearly 60 units of the 4,323 to be grounded this year have been distributed. 

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Topics : #Telangana

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