Cattle vaccination costs to be borne by state

BANGALORE: The veterinary department have set a target to vaccinate over 160 lakh sheep and goats against the dreaded disease of PDR and another 150 lakh cattle to prevent foot and month disease before August this year, Minister for Animal Husbandry Revu Naik Belamagi informed here on Tuesday.The minister said that state would take up the entire cost of vaccination which is supported by the Centre.While about 70 lakh sheep and goats were administered vaccines against PDR disease, the mass vaccination programme for cattle would begin from August this year, he added.Both programmes would cost the exchequer over `37 crore and it is being carried out for free, he said.Referring to the state government’s proposal to start free ambulance facilities to treat cattle under Dhanvantari programme, the minister said that the process of issuing tender to start the scheme was under progress. “We have sought `35 crore to start the programme covering the entire state,” he said.Denying that the government has not released the subsidy of `2 per litre for milk farmers, the minister said that all the arrears were cleared till March end and the state government has earmarked another `300 crore for the current fiscal year. “The state government has released over `600 crore towards milk farmers subsidy for the last two years,” he said.