Pashudhan Nishulk Arogya Yojana (Rajasthan Free Livestock Health Scheme)

What is Pashudhan Nishulk Arogya Yojana?

Pashudhan Nishulk Arogya Yojana is the Government of Rajasthan's free livestock health scheme, run by the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department. The scheme puts veterinary medicines into government veterinary institutions across the state and gives them out free to any livestock keeper who brings a sick animal, so that a family's ability to pay stops deciding whether its animal gets treated.

According to the Raj Kisan Sathi portal maintained by the Government of Rajasthan, the scheme's stated purpose is the "free distribution of medicines necessary for animal health services", so that livestock owners can cut their veterinary expenditure, animals whose owners lack money still get timely treatment, and livestock mortality falls because treatment starts early rather than after the family has scraped together the cost.

The scheme is often referred to locally as the pashudhan nishulk dawa yojana or simply free animal medicine scheme, and it sits alongside the state's free generic medicine programme for humans as its veterinary counterpart.

Main features

• Free medicines and free treatment at government veterinary hospitals, dispensaries, sub-centres and departmental camps.
• A nominal registration charge of Rs 2 per animal head at the counter, no other payment.
• No application form, no beneficiary list, no eligibility certificate.
• Emergency medicines can be supplied at the livestock keeper's residence where it is critically necessary.
• District offices and multipurpose veterinary hospitals receive an annual budget allocation earmarked for emergency medicine purchase, so that stocks do not run dry mid-year.

The free veterinary medicine programme it grew out of was launched covering 87 frequently required generic veterinary drugs and 13 surgical consumables, with a Rs 60 crore allocation in the first phase. State reporting after the rollout recorded a roughly 25 per cent increase in animals brought to government veterinary centres, with over 27 lakh sick animals treated with free medicines and more than 8 lakh vaccinated against infectious disease.

Who is eligible for free animal treatment in Rajasthan?

You can use the scheme if:

• You own livestock in Rajasthan. That is the whole test.
• Your animal is a cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, camel or other livestock brought to a government veterinary institution in the state.

There is no income ceiling, no caste category condition, no landholding requirement, no cap on the number of animals per family and no ration card condition. Pashudhan Nishulk Arogya Yojana is a universal service scheme rather than a targeted transfer, which is unusual among state schemes and worth knowing: livestock keepers frequently assume they will be turned away for lack of a BPL card and never come.

You cannot apply for, or claim under, the scheme if:

• You take the animal to a private veterinary clinic. The free medicines are held in government institutions, and a private practitioner's bill is not reimbursed under this scheme.
• You ask for a medicine that is not on the departmental free list and not in stock. Where a drug outside the supplied list is prescribed, the livestock keeper buys it.
• You are seeking compensation for an animal that has died. That is a different scheme; Rajasthan's free livestock insurance runs separately under Mukhyamantri Mangla Pashu Bima Yojana.

What does the scheme actually provide?

The programme is a stock-based benefit, not a cash reimbursement. What you receive is whatever is on the free list and in the institution's stock at that time. Understanding this distinction avoids the commonest disappointment: a livestock keeper who buys medicine from a private chemist on a veterinary officer's advice cannot come back afterwards and claim the money.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Pashudhan Nishulk Arogya Yojana

1. Locate your nearest government veterinary institution: a veterinary hospital, veterinary dispensary, veterinary sub-centre or the district multipurpose veterinary hospital. Every panchayat samiti in Rajasthan is served by departmental institutions, and the district Joint Director's office can tell you the nearest one.
2. Take the animal there, or if the animal cannot be moved, report the case at the institution and ask whether emergency medicine can be supplied at your residence, which the scheme provides for in critical cases.
3. Register at the counter and pay the Rs 2 per animal head charge. Ask for the registration slip.
4. Have the animal examined by the veterinary officer, who prescribes from the free-medicine list.
5. Collect the medicines free from the institution's counter. Do not pay for anything issued from the free stock.
6. Attend departmental animal health camps when they are announced in your village: treatment at these camps is free on the same basis and saves the trip to the hospital.

How do I find out when a camp is coming to my village?

Camp schedules are circulated by the block veterinary office and announced through the gram panchayat. Ask the veterinary sub-centre in charge for the block's camp calendar, or check with the panchayat secretary. Camps are the most practical route for households that keep goats and sheep in numbers, because an entire flock can be seen in one sitting.

Common problems and how to fix them

• "The medicine is out of stock." Ask the veterinary officer to record the shortage in the institution register and to raise an indent to the district office. District offices and multipurpose veterinary hospitals hold an annual allocation for emergency medicine purchase precisely for this. If the shortage persists, escalate to the Joint Director, Animal Husbandry for the district.
• "I was asked to pay for the medicine." Only the Rs 2 registration charge per animal is payable. Anything issued from the institution's free stock is free. Report a demand for payment through Rajasthan Sampark on 181.
• "The institution is unstaffed." Report the vacancy to the block veterinary office and the district Joint Director. Staffing complaints against a named institution are actionable through Rajasthan Sampark.
• "My animal died despite treatment." This scheme does not compensate for death. Check separately whether the animal was insured under Mukhyamantri Mangla Pashu Bima Yojana, and if it was, report the death to the veterinary institution at once so the post-mortem and ear tag recovery can support a claim.

How does this scheme relate to Rajasthan's other livestock schemes?

Pashudhan Nishulk Arogya Yojana is the treatment leg of the Animal Husbandry Department's work. Two other legs matter to the same household:

• Mukhyamantri Mangla Pashu Bima Yojana is the insurance leg, giving free premium-paid cover of up to Rs 40,000 for a milch cow, buffalo or camel and Rs 4,000 per goat or sheep.
• Gopal Credit Card is the credit leg for livestock keepers.

Households treat these as one system in practice: get the animal ear-tagged at the veterinary institution, use the free treatment when it falls sick, and register the same tagged animal for free insurance when the annual window opens.

Help and grievance redressal

• Rajasthan Sampark / CM Helpline: 181
• Nodal officer listed on the Raj Kisan Sathi scheme page: Additional Director (Agriculture Extension), 0141-2227849
• District escalation: the Joint Director, Animal Husbandry for your district

Treatment under Pashudhan Nishulk Arogya Yojana is free. Beyond the Rs 2 per animal registration charge, no government veterinary institution in Rajasthan is authorised to charge you for medicines issued from the free stock.