It has been stated in a conference held by the Department of Livestock Management of University of Agriculture Faisalabad on “Role of Livestock in Pakistan’s Economy” that rural women spent 60 to 80 percent of their time in animal husbandry (Pakistan Today, 03-05-11). It is surprising that if the main concern of rural women is animal husbandry why then the only bachelors degree in the subject of animal husbandry was abolished in UAF and not initiated in the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore.
The scribe can say with hindsight of 60 years of professional experience that the sole reason was PVMC and UVAS which joined together to scuttle the basic degree in animal husbandry initiated by the Agriculture University under the able guidance of the late Vice-Chancellor, Dr Z A Hashmi. Unfortunately, the veterinarians staged a coup to create a so-called composite degree of DVM with 26% of animal husbandry courses which the then Chancellor (Musharraf era) could not forestall. Perhaps the present Chancellor could revive the degree in animal husbandry being the need of our time.
MUHAMMAD YAQOOB BHATTI
Lahore
