Rajasthan Animal Husbandry Minister Lalchand Kataria on Wednesday said the state government is working with full sensitivity and alertness to tackle the lumpy skin disease affecting cattle in the state.
Kataria, in response to a supplementary question during Question Hour in the Assembly, said Rs 40 crore has been earmarked for supply of medicines to save bovine animals from lumpy virus.
A total of Rs 6 crore has been already given to the districts and soon additional Rs 7 crore will be distributed among them, he added. Earlier, in a written reply to a question, Kataria said the government had placed orders for 45 lakh goat pox vaccines and 16 lakh vaccines have been received so far.
He said collective efforts were needed to control the lumpy skin disease in cattle. Kataria clarified that the state government records the number of bovines suffering from lumpy infection on the basis of the reports of livestock assistants, patwaris, agricultural supervisors and district officials and no other survey has been done.
He said at present no compensation of any kind is being given by the government to cowherds in the state for the death of cows due to lumpy skin disease. He said the chief minister had written to the prime minister on August 29 urging that the lumpy skin disease should be declared an epidemic so that animal owners and gaushalas can be compensated for the death of bovines due to the virus.
Union Animal Husbandry Minister Sanjeev Balyan on Wednesday said the problem of lumpy virus is more serious in Rajasthan and about 12.5 lakh bovine animals are affected in the state. Although lumpy skin disease in cattle has spread in 15 states of the country, it is more acute in Rajasthan, he said. The Union minister is on a two-day tour to the state.
(With PTI inputs)
