Veterinarian Response to the COVID-19 Crisis

I am presently posted as Additional Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, Lahunipara, Dist-Sundargarh, Odisha. My work mainly focuses on extension works along with basic veterinary work. Selecting targeted and appropriate beneficiaries for implementing different govt. projects is a herculean task. Moreover, getting intended result i.e. poverty alleviation, income generation and let a farmer be a source of light for youths of the area for self employment is definitely a bigger task. To achieve all this, I simply pray God to show me right path.

When the Covid-19 crisis started, I along with my fellow vets, paravets and other supporting staffs were in a panic as to how to deliver our primary services to the farmer and the society. I at first thought of my safety so that due to me or my negligence or my irresponsible behavior, my 2 little children didn’t get affected. So as per Govt. of India protocol, I purchased some sanitizer and masks which I distributed to all my staffs and instructed all to maintain a safe distance from farmers so that we can easily deliver our services without jeopardizing our own health. In response to surging no. of covid-19 positive cases, both the state and central govt imposed strict lockdown due to which our movements got restricted. Hence, we faced difficulties at first in delivering our services at the doorstep of farmers in emergency. To overcome this problem, I downloaded Identity Card of all our staffs including mine from Odisha govt website HRMS and got those signed from Sub-Divisional Veterinary Officer, Bonai who is our DDO (Drawing and Disbursing Officer) so that whenever any police officer hinders our movement, we can show our ID Cards and we can move easily to the farmers doorstep.

Accordingly, I and all my staffs carried out my instructions very well and we did our job with much more ease because we at all times adopted all safety measures prescribed by Govt of India. During lockdown period, two important programs of central govt were in force which were to be done without any hindrances. Those were NAIP-I and NADCP-I. I along with my workforce could do our works in these two programs with ease and achieved our targeted result.

Due to restriction in movement of vehicles, dairy farmers and poultry farmers faced many problems in procurement of feed and also sale of their produce. I personally took interest in this problem and contacted all the dairy and poultry farmers to know their exact problems. They informed that if their vehicles could move without any obstacle, then there won’t be any problem for their animals/ birds and sale of their produce. For solving this, I got Pass for their vehicles signed by our DDO and handed over to these farmers. Due to this small act, milk and meat availability was never a problem during whole of lockdown period neither the farmers faced any problem in feeding their animals/ birds.

Towards the month of July 2020, Odisha govt announced a slew of measures to benefit poor farmers of the state in form of Covid Package so that disruption in flow of income will be blown away which was main outcome of lockdown across the country. The programs were:

1. Support to Farmers for Broiler Farming (500 Bird Capacity)
2. Support to Farmers for Layer Farming (200 Bird Capacity) in Deep Litter System in Women SHG Mode
3. Support to Farmers for Promoting Fodder Cultivation- Enrichment of Crop Residues
4. Support to Farmers for Promoting Fodder Cultivation- Azolla Cultivation
5. Support to Farmers for Broiler Farming (200 Bird Capacity) under Deep Litter System in Individual Mode under OMBADC (Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation)
6. Support to Farmers for Small Scale Goat Farming (10 Female+1 Male Capacity) in Individual Mode under OMBADC (Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation)

Farmer selection as per target was started and I selected 2 nos. of farmers for 1^st scheme, 4 Women SHGs for 2^nd scheme. 4 nos. of women farmers for 3^rd scheme, 10 women farmers for 4^th scheme, 83 farmers for 5^th scheme and 20 farmers for 6^th scheme. Scheme nos. 1 to 4 have already been completed and scheme nos. 5 to 6 are in progress which will be completed very soon.

Two farmers in scheme no. 1 have already sold out 3 batches of birds as on today and as per their statement, their monthly profit stands at 9000-1000 rupees approximately. Their happiness is our motto which I could be able to achieve. Starting from construction of shed to vaccination, health check up of birds to their point of sale, I have taken all the tasks in my hand and travelled to the farms at appropriate times due to which the farmers could get the desired profit and they are now interested in expanding their farms.

4 Farmers in scheme no. 3 and 10 farmers in scheme no. 4 could be able to slash their expenditure in feeding their cows without affecting milk production by adopting enrichment of crop residues and azolla cultivation.

83 farmers in scheme no.5 and 20 farmers in scheme no. 6 have already been selected and construction of shed is in full swing which will be completed soon. Animal and chick induction will be achieved within a month.

To achieve all these, I have taken lot of pain and travelled at least 60-70 kms a day with my bike due to which I have developed severe back pain. But, this has not deterred me in achieving my goals and deliver services to the needy farmers. Alleviating poverty and generating income are the sole aim of the govt and mine. And I have tried my best to deliver my services with full precaution to not catch Covid-19.

At last I urge every veterinarian to rise up to the occasion in turbulent times like this and deliver our services as per our capacity to the maximum and be a role model for all across the society so that our livestock sector can be a sustainable and profitable venture in the eyes of all. Some glimpses of my work during covid-19 crisis are: