20th livestock census: Shortage of tablets to delay survey in state

CASHSTRAPPED State needs at least 1,500 of these gadgets, costing ₹6,000 each; with a budget requirement of ₹90 lakh, dept only received ₹30 lakh grant

A month after missing the deadline issued by the Union ministry of agriculture and farmer welfare, the state animal husbandry and dairy development department invited e-bid for 500 tablets for conducting livestock census.

According to the requirement, however, the state needs at least 1,500 tablets with each costing ₹6,000, entailing a budget of ₹90 lakh, to conduct the census.

The department has only received a grant of ₹30 lakh under the National Mission for Bovine Productivity.

The union ministry had issued an advisory on September 20, directing all states to conduct the 20th livestock census from October 1.

With the census to be conducted digitally for the first time, the process has already been delayed by over a year with the last census being held in 2012. The data collection of animals, according to their breed and other characteristic will be gathered using tablets and will be available online.

“To begin the census we invited e-bid for 500 tablets on Government e-marketplace (GeM) portal on October 21. The contract will be given to the company offering the best price on November 11,” said Dr Harsh Mohan Singh, deputy director at Punjab animal husbandry department and state’s nodal officer for the census.

On asking about the required number of tablets, Dr Singh said the 500 tablets were to kick-start the census. They will send a proposal to the central government for the funds required to purchase the remaining tablets.

“We are hoping to start the survey in the first week of December,” he added.

A senior veterinary officer, who has undergone training of census, said 500 tablets are not sufficient to kick-start the survey. To carry out the process, each official needs a tablet in hand to upload the data.

“There are 22 districts in Punjab. If 500 tablets will be divided among all districts, each will get 20 tablets. These are not enough for even half of the total veterinary officers in the district,” he said.

There are few chances that the census will start in December. Even if the department will purchase tablets by December, the officials will have to undergo a one-month long training, he said.

“It will take at least two to three months to begin the census,” he added.

Meanwhile, the census will be a three-month extensive field survey, where enumerators will visit each household to record the number of animals.

UNION MINISTRY HAD ISSUED AN ADVISORY ON SEPTEMBER 20, DIRECTING ALL STATES TO CONDUCT LIVESTOCK CENSUS FROM OCT 1