Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd, (BFIL) a subsidiary of IndusInd Bank has signed an MoU with The Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) of the Maharashtra Government to begin its Social Impact Initiative “Bharat Sanjeevani” at 31 districts in the state. The collaboration titled “Mahapashudhan Sanjeevani” under “Mukhyamantri Pashu Swasthya Yojana” will enhance the doorstep delivery of livestock care, making all veterinary services available for farmers at just a phone call away. The toll-free 1962 will be operational from early next year.
The joint initiative ensures that livestock is provided quality treatment in a time-bound manner, and the farmer is saved of additional expenses like traveling to the point of care and availing quality medicines. The toll-free 1962 will be operational from January 2021. Maharashtra has a total cattle population of 1. 96 Cr.
The MoU was signed in the august presence of Sunil Kedar, Minister Animal Husbandry, Dairy development, Sports and Youth Welfare and Shri Anoop kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary ADF & other top officials from IndusInd bank and AHD.The signing of MoU took place by Shri Sachindra Pratap Singh, Commissioner AHD and Shri Srinivas Reddy Vudumula, Chief People Officer- BFIL.
“The Maha Pashudhan Sanjeevani project under the Mukhyamantri Pashu Swasthya Yojana will help the farmers immensely and livestock care is an essential part of every rural household. Proper Care on time can bring a lot of benefit to the farmers and enhance their livelihood. We are happy that IndusInd Bank has come forward with their CSR initiative to support livestock farmers and I hope the services reach every household of the state,” said Shri Sunil Kedar, Minister Animal Husbandry, Dairy development, Sports and Youth Welfare.
The doorstep veterinary services will have curative treatment, vaccination, artificial insemination, preventive care and all animal husbandry related information. In the initiative, the field veterinary services of the Department will be deployed through an integrated telemedicine and service management platform developed by BFIL.
“We thank the IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd for their CSR support in bringing a dynamic platform for providing veterinary services to small dairy farmers and people into animal rearing at their doorstep services. Their telemedicine and technology contribution will help in reducing the turnaround time of services and arrest outbreaks to an extent. The collaboration will be very beneficial to ensure the farmer with veterinary services in a holistic manner,” said Anoop kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary ADF
The first phase of the initiative will serve farmers at 81 Talukas located in 31 districts of Maharashtra. The centralized emergency response Centre at Commissionerate of Animal Husbandry, Maharashtra State, Pune will be synergized with 81 Mobile Veterinary Clinic vehicles. The 31 districts include Thane, Palghar, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Nashik, Dhule, Aurangabad, Parbhani, Beed, Latur, Nagpur, Bhandara. Other districts of the state will be integrated in eventual phases.
“The Mukhymantri Pashu Swasthya Yojana is a very farmer-friendly initiative towards empowering their livelihood and we are very delighted to put a united effort with the Maharashtra Government in this direction. Our collaboration for Maha Pashudhan Sanjeevani will enhance the lives of many farmers from rural remote areas by providing them convenient and quality care for their livestock, at their doorstep. We are proud to be associated with the Maha Government and are eager to launch the services soon,” said Shalabh Saxena, MD & CEO, Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd.
The Company also runs the project in all districts of Madhya Pradesh along with the Madhya Pradesh government and at 11 districts of Jharkhand. Bharat Sanjeevani has been awarded the “National CSR award for CSR in Challenging Circumstances (East)” for 2019 by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (Govt. of India). The project which is operational since 2016 has served 14 lac farmers and treated 13.1 lac livestock, ensuring the farmers do not incur losses on account of mortality and morbidity.
The uniqueness of the initiative lies in its’ ability to connect the doctor and the farmer through a mobile app, which also tracks the efficiency of service delivery, medicines prescribed, and livestock diseases related data in one platform. The one-of-its kind telemedicine platform developed by BFIL ensures that the farmer avails quality treatment at the doorstep in a time-bound manner. Apart from veterinary services farmers are also given guidance on nutrition care for their livestock.