Intensive Castration Scheme

What is the Intensive Castration Scheme?

The Intensive Castration Scheme is a programme of the Directorate of Animal Husbandry under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat. Under the scheme, departmental veterinary staff castrate male calves and bulls with two stated objectives: controlling the stray animal population, and reducing accidents caused by stray male animals in rural and urban areas.

The scheme is unusual among state schemes because the benefit is a service, not a payment. Nothing is transferred to a bank account. What the livestock owner receives is a surgical procedure performed by government veterinary staff, and what the wider public receives is fewer uncontrolled bulls on the road.

In Gujarati departmental usage the procedure is called khasikaran (ખસીકરણ), and castration also appears as one of the standard services delivered through Gujarat's intensive animal improvement (ghanishtha pashu sudharana) network of veterinary sub-centres, alongside primary treatment, vaccination and artificial insemination.

Why Gujarat runs an intensive castration programme

Two problems sit behind the scheme.

The first is road safety. According to statements by state officials, roughly 60 to 70 per cent of cases in which people are injured by cattle on the roads involve bulls rather than cows, because bulls are the aggressive animals in a herd. The Gujarat High Court had previously pressed the state government to act on the stray cattle problem.

The second is breed management. Uncontrolled breeding by low-quality scrub bulls works directly against the department's artificial insemination programme, which exists to improve milk yield through planned breeding with selected semen. Castrating male calves that are not required for breeding is the standard veterinary tool for keeping a breeding programme intact.

The scale is significant. The Gujarat cabinet decided to sterilise nearly 50,000 stray bulls across the state, with the exercise covering all 8 municipal corporations, 156 municipalities and rural areas. The procedure is carried out under the guidance of veterinary college professors and Animal Husbandry Department officials, and each sterilisation team is composed of one veterinary officer, two supervisors and two cattle handlers. After castration, bulls are ear tagged for identification and moved to cow shelters, which receive support under the state's Mukhyamantri Gaumata Poshan Yojana.

Who is eligible for the Intensive Castration Scheme?

You can request the service if:

• You are a livestock owner in Gujarat with a male calf or bull.
• The animal is of an age and condition at which the veterinary officer considers castration appropriate. This is a clinical judgement made by the officer, not an administrative test.

You are not eligible or the service will not apply if:

• The animal is a female. The scheme covers male calves and bulls.
• The animal is a registered breeding bull being used in a recognised breeding programme, where castration would defeat the purpose. Gujarat runs separate schemes supporting the purchase and maintenance of breeding bulls.
• The animal is unfit for surgery on veterinary examination, in which case the officer will defer the procedure.
• You are outside Gujarat. This is a state departmental programme.

There is no income limit, no caste restriction and no land requirement, because the scheme delivers a veterinary service rather than a financial benefit.

What documents are required?

The documentation is deliberately light. For stray animals picked up under a municipal or panchayat drive, there is no owner and no paperwork at all. The local body and the veterinary team handle the animal directly.

How to apply for castration under the scheme

1. Identify your nearest government veterinary institution. A veterinary dispensary, a first-aid veterinary centre, a veterinary sub-centre or the mobile veterinary unit that visits your village.
2. Speak to the veterinary officer and request castration for the animal, giving its age, breed and ear tag number if it has one.
3. Register the request on the iKhedut portal where the scheme is open — iKhedut at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in lists animal husbandry schemes under Schemes, then Animal Husbandry Schemes, and applications are taken in a notified window each financial year.
4. Confirm the date on which the veterinary team will visit, or on which you should bring the animal to the dispensary.
5. Prepare the animal as instructed. The officer will usually ask that the animal be kept off feed for a stated period before the procedure and be properly restrained.
6. Follow the post-operative instructions given by the veterinary officer, including any wound care and the follow-up visit.

For stray animals, the route is different: report the animal to your gram panchayat, municipality or municipal corporation, which coordinates with the Animal Husbandry Department's sterilisation teams. An individual citizen does not apply on behalf of a stray bull.

Where to get help

• Government veterinary dispensary or veterinary sub-centre in your area. The operational point for the service.
• Taluka Animal Husbandry Office for scheduling and for camps covering several villages.
• District Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry for escalation.
• Directorate of Animal Husbandry, Gujarat at doah.gujarat.gov.in for the published scheme list and departmental contacts.
• Gram panchayat, municipality or municipal corporation for stray cattle in a public place.

What this guide does not state, and why

The Directorate of Animal Husbandry publishes the Intensive Castration Scheme in its scheme list, but a per-animal assistance figure, an annual target and a fixed application window for individual livestock owners are not available on an official public source at the time of writing. Those details are therefore deliberately omitted here rather than guessed at. A livestock owner who needs the current year's terms should ask the taluka animal husbandry office directly, since scheme parameters in Gujarat's animal husbandry portfolio are re-notified each financial year and district targets vary.