Livestock, Fisheries Play Significant Role In National Economy: Minister

HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th May, 2024) Sindh Chief Minister's adviser on Livestock and Fisheries Syed Najmi Alam Thursday said that Livestock and Fisheries play a significant role in the national economy, and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has specifically instructed for further development of this department to alleviate poverty and improve people's lives.

He expressed these views while presiding over a meeting with officials of the Livestock and Fisheries department at the Directorate General's office. Provincial adviser arrived in Hyderabad as part of his one-day visit, where he conducted a detailed tour of all directorates of the Livestock department including Animal Extension, Poultry, Research, Diagnostics, etc, and received briefings from relevant authorities. Provincial adviser directed all the officers to improve the animal vaccination process and to train the officers in this regard.

He said that a veterinary center should be fully functional in every tehsil and wherever the development projects of the department are lagging behind, it is the responsibility of the officers of the department to take care of it and write to us so that the projects can be completed on time and benefit the people.

About the shortage of staff, he said that all the vacant posts in the department should be filled immediately by issuing an advertisement so that the shortage of staff can be filled. While giving a briefing to the provincial adviser.

DG Livestock Hizbullah Bhutto said that 418 veterinary officers are working in the province while the sanctioned posts are 688 and the remaining posts will be recruited through the commission.

He further informed that 8.161,980 million large animals have been vaccinated and 10.30 million small animals were also being vaccinated.

Syed Najmi Alam directed the DG Livestock to complete all the development schemes immediately and also check the movement of animals from one city to other cities and effective vaccination process of cattle coming from other provinces to prevent the spread of diseases. He added that because of the increasing demand for meat, small animals are slaughtered, which also threatens the indigenous breeds, and legislation was being made to solve this problem.

The provincial adviser said that in this regard, the Livestock Department will introduce a scheme to keep the small animals of these cattle and prevent their slaughter. The Provincial Advisor further said that a consultant firm will be hired to check all the development schemes.

On this occasion, the Director Animal Husbandry told the Provincial Advisor that, with the help of artificial insemination, good breeds will be saved and this will increase the production of milk and meat. Director Livestock Extension Noabat Khoso briefed the provincial advisor regarding the rehabilitation of all the cattle farms in the province and proposed that the budget should be increased so that incomplete schemes can be fully activated.

The provincial adviser paid a detailed visit to all the directorates of the Livestock Department and sought information regarding the method of checking cattle in the research lab. During the visit, he also met with foreign experts regarding the ongoing breeding project of JICA and took a detailed briefing.