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Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated the two-day workshop on �Management of Animals in Emergencies� organised by National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) here today.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that the NIDM is playing pivotal role not only in disasters occurring in the country but also in our neighbouring countries like Nepal where massive earthquake struck impacting adjoining States in our country as well. The role of disaster management agencies in rescue and rehabilitation of several people during recent Chennai floods was highly appreciated, he added. The Minister said that it is important to note that animals are often the forgotten victims of disasters and thousands of animals suffer and perish each year.

Considering the importance of livestock in the economy of the nation and also lives of rural population, Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that the management of livestock during disaster becomes imperative. He said that the NIDM along with organisation like Policy Prospective Foundation and World Animal Protection have been working together to address much needed issue of �management of animals in emergencies�. For better policy support, measures to protect animals from disasters should also be included into the Disaster Management Act, he added.

Shri Radha Mohan Singh said that this workshop is going to identify the challenges and focus on the way forward to mitigate and prevent loss of livestock resources before, during and after disasters.

Following the inaugural, the Minister released the Disaster Management Plan for the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries and Government of India. The Plan has been developed to protect animals before, during and after disasters.

The two-day workshop includes sessions to brief on subjects like Veterinary Emergency Preparedness Measures (Pre Disaster stage), Veterinary Emergency Response Measures (During Disaster stage), Veterinary Emergency Recovery Measures (Post Disaster stage), National Legislative & Institutional Perspectives and Animal Centred DRR measures.