Imphal, December 14 2009: Chief Secretary DS Poonia has called upon the veterinarians to always work in close co-ordination with those who are rearing cattles.

Inaugurating a day-long workshop on the role of veterinarian in containing emergent zoonotic diseases as chief guest in the conference hall of Manipur State Veterinary Council at Sanjenthong here today, DS Poonia expressed concern that Government employees who should be working closely with the people appear to be always aloft from the people.

This should not happen.

If the employees of the Veterinary Dept work in close co-ordination with the people, then many of the problems being faced by those who are rearing cattles could be solved easily.

In Manipur, regardless of the weaknesses of the Government, farmers and the farmers' associations appear to be more active than the Govt Dept concerned.

So instead of keeping the knowledge to themselves, veterinary officials should share them with the farmers.

Farmers should not be left to their own fate, Poonia said.

He also stressed on the need for working out various strategies to contain zoonotic diseases in Manipur.

There have been cases where some of the zoonotic diseases spread to man.

In order to contain such problems, services of the veterinary doctors and the Department may not be enough and the Health Services can played a major role in this regard.

So there is also the need for co-ordination between the Veterinary Department and the Health Department, the Chief Secretary said.

It was because of joint efforts made by the Veterinary and Health Dept that no human lives have been reported during the outbreak of Bird flu and Swine flu in the State, he acknowledged.

The Chief Secretary also called upon the officials concerned for ensuring inclusion of necessary fund in the budget of the State Government.

Commissioner of Health & Family Welfare V Vumlunmang presided over the function which was also attended by Director in-charge of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Dr S Joykumar as guest of honour.

In his address, Dr Joykumar pointed out that absence of a regular Director of the Dept causes difficulties in proper functioning of the Department.

In the day-long workshop, Dr Th Bhubonchandra, Addl Director (PH) and State Nodal Officer, IDSP, Medical Directorate, Manipur; Dr H Rahaman, Joint Director, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Sikkim Centre, Tadong, Gangtok (Sikkim); Dr RA Hazarika, Professor in Dept of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, AAU; Dr RK Sharma, Professor/Virologist AICRP on FMD College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agriculture University presented papers as resource persons on the topic of 'Dengue, an emerging public health problem in Manipur', 'Transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses challenges and strategies', 'Emerging zoonoses : A challenge to veterinary profession' and 'Diagnosis and management of emerging zoonotic diseases' respectively.

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