CM calls for five-year roadmap for Veterinary Department with clear targets
Shillong, Aug 19: In a significant initiative strengthening veterinary service, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for a new State Veterinary Hospital at Upper Shillong.
The Rs 65-crore hospital will serve as a modern referral centre for animal healthcare.
In his address, the Chief Minister called for a more integrated approach to animal husbandry and said the government needed to move beyond individual schemes and build a comprehensive ecosystem that could support livelihoods, improve animal health and bridge demand-supply gaps.
“The larger purpose and goal should be to create livelihoods and to minimize demand and supply differences through systematic efforts,” he said at the programme held at INDO DAN Guest House in Upper Shillong.
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister Shanbor Shullai, Mylliem MLA Ronnie V Lyngdoh, and Chief Secretary Dr Shakil Ahammad were among those present on the occasion.
Sangma described the new hospital as the “hub” of a state-wide veterinary network, with district and subdivision-level facilities functioning as its “spokes”.
He stressed that the system would work effectively only if infrastructure, equipment, medicines and manpower were strengthened at every level.
The Chief Minister also called for a five-year roadmap for the Veterinary Department, with clear targets and a phased approach to implementation.
He urged officials to identify opportunities for entrepreneurship and private investment in the animal husbandry sector.
The new hospital will come up on about 161 acres of departmental land and is envisioned as Meghalaya’s apex veterinary referral institution.
The existing State Veterinary Hospital, which has served the state for years, is increasingly constrained by space and infrastructure.
More than 25% of cases handled at the existing hospital are referrals from different parts of Meghalaya, highlighting the need for a larger and more specialised facility.
The proposed hospital will provide specialised veterinary treatment, advanced diagnostic services, radiology and imaging, surgery, orthopaedics, inpatient care, laboratory services and an in-house pharmacy.
It will also have 24×7 emergency, casualty and critical-care services, allowing serious cases to receive timely treatment within the state and reducing the need to send complicated cases outside Meghalaya.
The government expects the facility to strengthen disease diagnosis and surveillance, support food security, improve preparedness against zoonotic diseases and reduce the financial burden on farmers who currently have to travel outside the state for specialised veterinary care.
Sangma called for strict timelines and quality control in the construction and implementation of the project, saying the facility should emerge as one of the leading veterinary hospitals and research centres in the Northeast.
“Let us ensure that this veterinary hospital is one of the best hospitals and research centres in the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary sector for the entire North East,” he said.
