A Regional Review Meeting under the Chairpersonship of Secretary (AHD), Smt. Alka Upadhyaya was held today in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, with Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/ Secretary along with concerned Directors, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department of Western States in order to discuss the progress of implementation of the programmes/schemes of the Department. The review meeting was attended by the Additional Secretary, Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Joint Secretaries, Chief Controller of Accounts and other senior officers of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

Smt. Alka Upadhyaya highlighted that the livestock sector is consistently growing at a high Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.67% during 2014-15 to 2021-22 (at constant prices) which is attributed by parameters of Livestock Sector such as Dairy, Bovine, Poultry, Goatery/Piggery etc. Further, the livestock sector has contributed around 30.19% during the year 2021-22 in total agriculture and allied sector GVA (at constant prices).

In the meeting, she reviewed the physical and financial progress of all animal husbandry and dairying schemes including Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), Entrepreneurship Development under National Livestock Mission (NLM), National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP), Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF), National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development fund (AHIDF) being implemented by the Government of India in the States. She emphasized to liquidate unspent balances lying with States. Union Secretary also stressed that the issues relating legacy data updation, interest on payment through Bharatkosh, etc. need to be resolved on priority to enable Govt. of India to release funds to the States during the current financial year. She also reviewed status of vaccination against FMD and brucella, operationalisation of Mobile Veterinary Units (MVUs), milk situation, fodder situation etc. across the country. She also directed that each state should prepare micro plans for further actions.

Smt. Alka Upadhyaya emphasized on feed and fodder availability and asked states to constitute taskforce to address the easy availability of balanced ration. She mentioned that preservation and protection of livestock through provision of healthcare is another thrust area for the Department. She advised that States need to accelerate FMD, Brucella and PPR vaccination. She also insisted that awareness campaigns should to be organized at gram panchayat level across States with active participation of Union Government, State Governments and District Officials for better outreach of scheme benefits to the livestock and dairy farmers.

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SK/SS