Coimbatore: The animal husbandry department has unveiled the plans to appoint veterinary doctors as enumerators for the 20th livestock census, which would be conducted shortly, to ensure accurate figures pertaining to different breeds of livestock.
Till the last census, which was held in 2012, the enumeration work was entrusted to the volunteers of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) while the entire process was monitored by animal husbandry department officials.
Citing the possibility of such volunteers getting confused with different breeds of cattle, an official said this time the task will be taken up by the department itself to ensure the accuracy in terms of number of different breeds of livestock.
Besides veterinary doctors, livestock inspectors, assistants, retired doctors and fresh veterinary graduates would also be roped in for the census duty, the official said, adding that the enumerators had already been given the first round of training a few months ago.
The census data would be used for availing medicines and vaccines for the livestock and implementation of government schemes. It would also come handy for analysis purpose, the official said. “With the help of the data, the rise and fall of a particular breed of livestock, drought-resistant breed of livestock and its impact could be analysed. Also, it would be helpful to focus on the endangering breed of livestock,” the official explained.
As far as the district is considered, there are more than 293 revenue villages, including 228 village panchayats. A total of 143 enumerators would cover the district, with each enumerator collecting details from more than 3,000 households on an average. The enumerators would work for six hours - three hours in the morning and as many hours in the evening - a day, the official said.
Held once in five years, the census was scheduled to be conducted on July 16, 2017. But it was postponed due to the central government’s Digital India initiative. Now, the census is expected to commence before September. Tablets for enumeration work would be handed over before June-end. “Tablets will improve the accuracy of the census by reducing manual errors,” the official said.