Odisha veterinarians resign en masse

BHUBANESWAR: Agitating members of Odisha Veterinary Service Association (OVSA) on Thursday tendered their resignations en masse protesting the apathy of the state government to their genuine demands.Veterinary doctors of all districts of the state sent their resignation letters to the principal secretary of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development (FARD) department on the day.

Condemning the vindictive transfer of some of the office bearers of OVSA on May 3, the association said, “This injustice has led to deterioration of our morals towards public service”. A letter by OVSA’s Ganjam district unit read, “In such painful situation, we do hereby express our inability to render our services further in appropriate manner unless and until the transfer orders issued on May 3, 2023  are cancelled and our issues are addressed genuinely.”

“We pray your good self to accept our resignation in better interest of public and all veterinarians of the state unless our demands are fulfilled,” the letter jointly signed of veterinarians stated.Accusing the state government of turning a deaf ear to their genuine demands which include complete parity with general duty medical officers in terms of pay scale and career progression, the association said its long standing demands for fixation of duty hours and job chart, legal provision for protection at work place, provision of basic logistics and minimum manpower have remained unfulfilled for a long time.

Meanwhile, FARD principal secretary Suresh Kumar Vashishth directed all district collectors to ensure veterinary services are not affected due to the ongoing agitation. Vashishth further directed to chief district veterinary officers (CDVOs) to inform about developments in their areas to their respective collectors.
Director of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Yeddula Vijay on Wednesday had instructed all heads of subordinate offices not to leave their places of posting without approval of the directorate. He further directed them not to accept leave or mass leave applications of OVSA members and cancel leaves sanctioned to veterinary officers.