Ersama: A huge quantity of medicines was found dumped close to the veterinary hospital boundary wall at Ersama block in Jagatsinghpur district, Monday.
Enraged local residents alleged that those dumped medicines had passed their expiry date but could have been given to animals.
Sources said that there are nine livestock aid centres under the Ersama Veterinary hospital. The aid centres at Kunjakothi, Balitutha, Govindpur, Panchpali, Hajipur, Mallipur, Kiatingri each have a livestock inspector.
At the block headquarters, there are two additional veterinary assistant surgeons named Dr Sunita Behera and Dr Lopamudra Ray. Besides them, block veterinary officer Dr Paramananda Sethy is also there to manage the centres.
The post of livestock officer is lying vacant at Chatua and Goda livestock aid centres. These two centres are therefore functioning under Kunjakothi and Panchapali respectively.
As per government rule, the additional veterinary assistant surgeons at veterinary hospitals and livestock inspectors at livestock aid centres are supposed to provide medicines at a lower price.
The rule also makes it mandatory that a list of all available medicines must be hung at these centres.
But the centres are complicit of not following these regulations.
“As the list is not being hung, we cannot know about the stock and so for that cannot ask for some specific medicines. After lying unused for a long period, they get expired,” alleged some local villagers.
When asked, block veterinary officer Dr Sethy said some district level officers had come for inspection. They asked the two additional veterinary assistant officers to clear a room and sit there as they were sitting on the verandah.
Accordingly the peon got the room rid of some packets of expired medicines and dumped them outside.
“I will get the dumped medicine packets lifted soon,” he added.
PNN