Dr Sanjeev Balyan’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ with fellow Vets

Pashu Sandesh, 19th May 2020

On May 18, at 5 pm, Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dr Sanjeev Balyan addressed the veterinarians of the country through Facebook. The name of the program was not formally called "Mann ki Baat", but Dr Balyan did not speak diplomatically like a politician and a minister and spoke directly to the country's veterinarians. While his address was on the topic "Progressive Interventions for Genetic Upgradation of Livestock in India", in his address he gave his views on all aspects related to veterinarians. He said that it is time to change his mind, veterinarians should quit running after government jobs and pursue a career in new possibilities in areas like Udayamayita, Innovation, Research and Consultancy. Dr Sanjeev Baliyan himself has been a veterinarian, this is one of the reasons that he understands this profession and its problems very well.

Highlights of what the Minister has said on various topics related to the veterinary profession:

Sexed semen technology- We are making continuous efforts for the development of indigenous sexed seaman technology, hope that soon we will get success in it.

Embryo transfer technology- This technology has an important role in meeting the shortage of high merit bulls in the country. Presently there is a lack of efficiency in the skill level of our doctors in this field of technology, due to which the desired results are not being achieved. For skill development of doctors, the government is making efforts towards training them abroad.

FMD HS combined vaccine- It has been started in Haryana and its positive results are emerging. As the manufacturing capacity of our combined vaccine increases, this would be implemented in a phased manner in other states as well.

Vets should do quality work - Vaccination of 52 crore animals is a huge task. It requires a lot of manpower. For routine tasks like vaccination and AI, para vests have to be integrated into the system. Doctors should focus only on monitoring, supervision, breed improvement and technical work.

Vacant posts- A letter has been written by the Central Government to all the state governments to fill the vacant posts as soon as possible.

Genetics and nutrition- These are the two most important and game-changer subjects in animal husbandry, more and more Vets should come forward to work in these two areas.

Vets should become entrepreneurs - Veterinary Science experts from the different fields should be grouped and encouraged to set up companies in areas like Nutrition, ETT and Animal Breeding. For this, the government will fully support the venture and is ready to work with them on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Role of vets during COVID-19- Veterinarians did commendable work at various levels during the Corona epidemic, for which they deserve congratulations.

VCI Campus- My heartfelt desire is to develop VCI Campus in Delhi which has all the facilities like office, conference hall, training centre and guesthouse etc. After the VCI election, this work will be started immediately.

At the end of his address, Dr Sanjeev Balian said that any Veterinary Doctor can meet him in the morning or evening at Delhi's residence, 15 Ashoka Road, without prior appointment.