Himachal Pradesh’s rural economy is heavily dependent on agriculture and animal husbandry, with livestock care being a crucial component of every household. To support farmers and enhance their livelihoods, the state government, led by Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, has launched a new initiative called ‘Sanjeevani’.
With a total livestock population of about 4.41 million, farmers often have to travel to the nearest clinic to avail veterinary services like artificial insemination, vaccination, surgery, and infertility testing. This can result in additional expenses and sometimes lead to livestock succumbing to ailments
due to a lack of timely treatment.
To address these issues, mobile veterinary clinics will be set up under the ‘Sanjeevani’ project to provide doorstep veterinary services to farmers. The Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) has signed an MoU with Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd. (BFIL) for the initiative, which will make all veterinary services available at just a phone call away. The integrated call centre will work as a single contact point for different matters concerning livestock healthcare and vaccination programmes.
The call centre will also provide personalised assistance to livestock farmers/owners on various aspects, including tele-medical-consultation, information about government schemes, programmes, grievance redressal, query resolution, etc. The initiative will save farmers additional expenses on travel to existing clinics and secure quality medicines for ailing livestock.
The ‘Sanjeevani’ project will serve farmers in 44 blocks located in 12 districts of the state.
The centralised call centre at the Directorate of Animal Husbandry will be integrated with 44 Mobile Veterinary Ambulances, and BFIL’s integrated telemedicine and service management platform will be used to deploy the Animal Husbandry Department’s field veterinary services.
The uniqueness of the initiative lies in its ability to connect doctors and farmers through a mobile app, which also tracks the efficiency of service delivery, medicines prescribed, and livestock diseases related data in one platform. The one-of-a-kind telemedicine platform will ensure that farmers receive quality treatment at their doorstep in a time-bound manner, and they will also be given guidance on nutrition care for their livestock.
The ‘Sanjeevani’ project is a farmer-friendly initiative towards empowering the livelihoods of small dairy farmers and livestock owners. It will enhance the lives of many farmers from rural remote areas by providing them with convenient and quality care for their livestock at their doorstep. The collaboration will be very beneficial in ensuring holistic veterinary services to farmers.
The doorstep veterinary services will serve farmers in 44 blocks of all 12 districts. The centralised call centre at Directorate of Animal Husbandry will be integrated with 44 mobile veterinary ambulances.
The uniqueness of the initiative lies in its ability to connect the doctor and the farmer through a mobile app, which also tracks the efficiency of service delivery, medicines prescribed, and livestock diseases related data in one platform.
The one-of-its-kind telemedicine platform that will ensure the farmer avails quality treatment in a time-bound manner. Apart from veterinary services, farmers will also be given guidance on nutrition care for the livestock.
