As against the estimated requirement of 67200 veterinary doctors in the country, there are 67,784 registered veterinary practitioners as on March 31, 2015, Indian minister of state for agriculture & farmers welfare, Sudarshan Bhagat informed the parliament recently.

The minister said that it is as per the entries made in the Indian Veterinary Practitioners’ Register (IVPR) maintained by Veterinary Council of India.

Though animal husbandry is a state subject. Veterinary Services are provided by respective State Government including deployment of veterinary doctors and para-veterinarians as per their requirement. Animal Husbandry Department does not maintain State/UT wise detail of veterinary Doctors and para-veterinarians employed by the States/ UTs.

To meet the shortage of trained Veterinary manpower, the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in consultation with Veterinary Council of India has taken various steps which includes revision of Minimum Standards of Veterinary Education Regulations, 2008, increase in number of recognized veterinary colleges from 36 to 46 and increase in total no seats available in 17 veterinary colleges to 1334 from 914 on the basis of infrastructure and facilities available in the colleges, Bhagat adds.