1Division of Extension, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243 122, India.
2Division of Extension Education, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar-243 122.
3Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension, NTR College of Veterinary Science, Gannavaram, Andhra Pradesh.
4Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension, College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030.
The present study was conducted, following exploratory research design to know the opinion of livestock farmers towards privatization of veterinary services. Data were collected by a pre tested and structured interview schedule from 120 livestock farmers selected through quota and proportionate random sampling from six villages in three mandals of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. The findings indicated that majority (45%) of the livestock farmers had favorable opinion towards privatization of veterinary services followed by neutral (35.83%) and unfavorable (19.17%) opinion. Mean content analysis scores of first five ranked opinion statements were in the order of: privatization requires more infrastructure (2.80); privatization provides quick diagnostic services (2.53); privatization assures continuous supply of drugs and other inputs (2.52); privatization increases mutual accountability of farmers and veterinarians (2.50); and privatization reduces the financial burden on Government in providing the veterinary services (2.49). The study revealed that most of the livestock farmers have understood the need and importance of privatization in the present scenario and opined that the quality of veterinary services would improve by privatizing the services.
