Rs 5 crore awaited to implement Herd Registration Ordinance

Chandigarh, June 5 (UNI) The Punjab government's ambitious project to register all the dairy animals in the state has failed to take off due to lack of funds.

The state's Department of Animal Husbandry is awaiting a mere Rs five crore from the Finance department to put its workforce into action for implementation of the Herd Registration Ordinance, notified on May ten, which makes it mandatory for every dairy owner to get his dairy animals registered.

''We are waiting for the money to be sanctioned and released by the finance department for the massive task,'' Punjab Animal Husbandry Secretary D S Bains told UNI here.

If the ordinance is implemented properly, Punjab would be the first state to regulate its dairy livestock. But the exercise needs massive manpower and monetary support, he said.

The urgent need to regulate the dairy farming in Punjab has led to the state Governor to issue the ordinance, under which the Punjab Herd Registration Authority has been constituted.

The Authority will formulate a detailed plan to implement the herd registration programmes, including registration of all dairy animals, keep accounts of physical traits, breed conformity, pedigree, performance, health status, feeding and farm management status of every dairy animal. It will also keep a track of the animals' geographical movement, identify the cattle of higher genetic merit and use them in breeding programmes and issue semen certificate or embryo certificates.

The Authority has the powers to enter the premises of every dairy farm in the state to examine the animals and secure factual data kept by the dairy owners.

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