Govt operationalizes 29 mobile veterinary units & call centre in Thiruvananthpuram

New Delhi: Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying inaugurated 29 Mobile Veterinary Units and centralized call center in Thiruvananthpuram in a significant step for the benefit of the livestock farmers in Kerala.

These MVUs will be operated through a centralized call centre with a uniform Helpline No. 1962. It will receive calls from livestock rearers/animal owners and Veterinarian will prioritize all cases on the basis of emergency nature and will transmit them to the nearest MVU for attending at farmer’s doorstep.

Kerala is deploying 50 MVUs in different districts. Now, the veterinary hospital will be just a call away by dialing 1962. These vehicles are equipped with state of art diagnostic tools, animal treatment and breeding accessories, audio visual aids and necessary medications.

The Minister highlighted that this intervention would boost the confidence of dairy breeders to rear high productive dairy animals as most of the breeders are reluctant to take their livestock to Veterinary Hospital for treatment and usually end calling quacks for doorstep delivery of services. Each MVU shall be manned by a qualified Veterinarian and a Paravet for providing specialized services to livestock farmers, he added.

Elaborating on the scheme the Minister underlined that the scheme is promising and will transform the dairy sector from a subsistence-based farm livelihood to a commercially viable enterprise by giving gainful employment to the youth of the Kerala.

MVUs will provide diagnosis treatment, vaccination, artificial insemination, minor surgical interventions, audio-visual aids and extension services to farmers / animal owners at their doorstep in far flung area.

MVUs will act as one-stop Centre for solutions to veterinary issues and dissemination of information to the remotest areas of the country.

In the current financial year, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), MoFAHD, Govt of India has sanctioned 4332 MVUs across the country.

The event was attended by dignitaries including Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, V Muraleedharan, Kerala Minister of Animal Husbandry, J Chinchu Rani, Binoy Viswam MP, District Panchayat President, Suresh Kumar D, Director of Kerala Animal Husbandry Department, Dr A Kawshigan IAS and other officials.