Bengaluru: A special drive for vaccination of cattle against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) was scheduled to begin on April 7 but has not taken off because of an indefinite boycott of the campaign by over 2,500 veterinarians.
The doctors and other veterinary staff have boycotted the campaign as the government has not issued a final gazette notification regarding amendment to the Cadre and Recruitment (C&R) Rules. As a result, there has been a delay in giving promotions to over 1,000 doctors, according to the Karnataka Veterinary Association.
Association vice-president H.S. Jayanna said that promotions and fresh recruitments have been affected by the delay in issuance of the final notification, despite the State Cabinet giving its approval in April last year.
Many cases of FMD have been reported from Bengaluru Rural, Mandya, Chickballapur and Tumakuru districts. “But we and our colleagues in the districts have decided to boycott the campaign till the government gives in to our demand,” he said.
Despite instructions from Animal Husbandry Minister A. Manju, the authorities have not notified the C&R Rules. The State government has been dilly-dallying on the issue for the past 14 months, and frequent transfer of secretaries is one of the reasons for the delay, Jayanna claimed.
