Questioning the Union Animal Husbandry Ministry’s data that more than two lakh cattle and buffaloes had died by lumpy skin disease (LSD) in 2022 and 2023, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, headed by BJP MP P.C. Gaddigoudar, said there was a gap/mismatch in the number of cattle affected and dead, and the actual ground realities. Though the Ministry argued otherwise, the panel said accurate data would have helped in understanding the gravity of the situation, and in controlling and containing the disease. The panel recommended that the Centre ensure proper compilation of data on the spread of infection and mortality of cattle from LSD, so that cases of infection and mortality do not remain unreported and under-reported.
The panel said deaths of cattle had resulted in severe economic hardship to farmers and cattle owners. The Centre did not have any scheme to compensate for cattle losses due to spread of disease, the panel noted, and cited the examples of the State governments of Maharashtra and Karnataka that had provided compensation to livestock owners. It asked the Centre to take necessary provisions for compensating farmers.
Disease was spread in 23 States, and Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka saw the most number of deaths when compared with the rest of the country. 1,85,841 cattle died as on February 2023, while 32,73,762 infected and 30,30,747 recovered. 88177649 cattle were vaccinated. In 2023, 22,313 more deaths were reported.
The Committee also noted that that three manufacturers — Biovet Private Limited, Malur, Bengaluru; Indian Immunological, Hyderabad; and Institute of Veterinary Biological Products, Pune — had secured the vaccine technology from the National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE), Hisar to manufacture indigenous homologous live attenuated LSD vaccine (LumpiProVacInd). It asked the Centre to take take proactive steps for getting all regulatory approvals for commercial production/manufacturing of LumpiProVacInd, which has been developed especially for controlling and containing the spread of LSD.
