Payment gaffe hits drugs for cattle

Tag : Animal Husbandry


Dhanbad, June 20: Cattle drugs worth Rs 8 lakh are lying unused for more than threemonths after a payment gaffe hit the district animal husbandrydepartment.

Acquired in March, the last month of the last financial year, themedicines could not be distributed despite high demand during thepre-monsoon and monsoon months. The reason is simple: themanufacturers were not paid on time, as the treasury had not passedthe bill before the end of the budgetary year.

Sources at the animal husbandry department said the department hadlast received consignment of medicines in 2006. Before 2006, thedrugs were received in 1998.

It was after two years that the department acquired medicines onceagain in March. Though the proposal for the consignment had beensent earlier, the delivery came towards the year end.

The suppliers Karnataka Biotic and Bengal Chemicals suppliedthe medicines before the payment, according to the agreement withthe department. After the consignment arrived, the bill worth Rs 8lakh had been sent to the treasury to be passed but it was notdone. In April, the registers closed but the bill was not clearedresulting in non-payment to the companies. Legally, medicines thathave not been paid for cannot be used, said sources.

Animal husbandry officer K.L. Mahra confirmed that the consignmentof medicines was lying untouched. He added that the department waswriting to higher officials for fresh budgetary allocation so thatthe bill was cleared at the earliest.