Shepherd Panyala Rajaiah from Kasala village in Hatnoora mandal along with some of his villagers brought dead sheep to the Collectorate on Thursday to lodge a claim for insurance.
He claimed that three of the sheep he had received under the sheep distribution programme had died and his village had seen 30 sheep die in the last few weeks. All the sheep were the ones received under the scheme launched by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at Siddipet district on June 20th.
According to official figures so far 227 sheep had died since June 20 in the district, two sheep a day on an average. Whereas the unofficial figure is much higher.
Figures vary
For instance, while the residents of Gottigarpally in Mogudampally mandal claim that 130 sheep died veterinary doctor Pandyan stated that only 22 sheep died in the village.
Officials were attributing the death of sheep to transport related stress and because they were unable to adjust to the new environment in addition to seasonal diseases. Further, the fodder and water in the villages would be muddy resulting in health problems in the sheep.
The officials while designing of the scheme overlooked including medicines to treat the sheep. The officials admit that there were not enough medicines available with them to meet the requirement of sheep.
The District Collector Ranga Reddy District had suggested to the state government that ₹420 per unit (20 sheep and one ram) be allocated to meet the medical expenses. According to sources, a similar proposal was sent by Sangareddy Collector Manickraj Kannan, which was reportedly approved and it is likely to be implemented across the State. However it may take more than two weeks to get the required medicine for the sheep.
The shepherd has to submit a death certificate, tag, photo and post-mortem report to get the insurance for the dead sheep. Farmer will receive ₹5,000 for sheep and ₹ 7,000 for ram. However, veterinary doctors were not in a position to treat the sheep or to conduct the post-mortem as many of them were involved in sheep purchasing.
“A proposal was sent to the government and the medicines will arrive in a couple of weeks and we will address the problem soon,” said Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, Rama Rao Rathod.