The State government has sanctioned approval for establishing a Veterinary College and Research Institute at Veerapandi taluk in the district, said Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam here on Tuesday. The college would start admitting students from the current academic year.
After inspecting the site, Mr. Panneerselvam, accompanied by District Collector M. Pallavi Baldev; Tamil Nadu Veterinary & Animal Sciences University Vice-Chancellor C. Balachandran; Registrar P . Tensingh Gnanaraj and other officials, told The Hindu that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had sanctioned ₹246 crore for the purpose.
This will be the sixth veterinary college and research institute in the State, while the other five are in Chennai (1903), Namakkal (1985), Orathanadu (2011), Tirunelveli (2011) and Salem (2020).
Theni district, being ideally located close to Kerala, should benefit not only the farmers but also the entrepreneurs in the region to establish their units as they can take the assistance of the scientists at the research institute. Moreover, cattle growers and those engaged in livestock trade in neighbouring districts including Dindigul, Madurai and Virudhunagar may benefit in a big way, Mr. Panneerselvam said.
Apart from this, scientific advancements in animal husbandry would also be disseminated to the farming community through awareness programmes. With Kerala dependent on milk, meat and eggs from Tamil Nadu, Theni district would have a huge potential in this sector.
The district, which has over 200 milk producers union, procured 1.50 lakh litres of milk daily. As per the 20th livestock census in 2019, the district has 1,10,275 cattle, 1423 buffaloes, 47699 sheep, 95,388 goats and 809 pigs. With the State having five breeds of cattle - Kangeyam, Bargur, Umbalachery, Alambadi and Pulikulam, 10 breeds of sheep - Chennai Sigappu, Mecheri, Tiruchi Karuppu, Coimbatore Vellai, Ramanathapuram Vellai, Neelagiri, Vembur, Keezhakarisal, Sevvadu and Katchakatti Karuppu, three breeds of goat - Kanni, Kodi and Salem Karuppu and three breeds of dog - Kombai, Sippiparai and Kanni, the new veterinary college here would enable more students to pursue research in veterinary and allied sciences, officials said.
Admissions to start
The university officials said that 40 students would be admitted this academic year in the college. For the time being, it would function in a makeshift building. Within about a year, the students would be moved to their own building in a spacious area.
About six months ago, the district received the approval a new government law college and already the first batch of students had been admitted. Own buildings for the law college was under construction as per the schedule, officials added.