A one day State level workshop on National Animal Disease Reporting System (NADRS) was organised on 4th December 2013 at the Directorate of Animal Husbandry. The objective of the workshop was to create awareness about the NADRS project and resolve the issues being faced during the implementation phase. The workshop was attended by about 70 officers from the Department of Animal Husbandry, including DIOs of NIC from all over Himachal Pradesh. A team of officers led by Sh. A. Nandakumar, Director (NADRS and SS) Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Government of India visited Shimla for the workshop. Dr. Brij Bhushan, Senior Technical Director, Ms. Pratibha Lokhande, Technical Director and Sh. G. Janardhan Technical Director participated in the workshop from NIC New Delhi.

Dr. Anil Kumar Sharma, Director Animal Husbandry, Himachal Pradesh inaugurated the workshop and welcomed all the participants. He appreciated the efforts of Animal Husbandry officials and NIC for making the project operational in the State. He raised certain issues related to the increased data entry work at field level.

Sh. Nandakumar made a presentation on the current status of the Project and informed that over 7000 locations has been networked using the VPNoBB connectivity through BSNL and various diseases are being monitored both in livestock and fisheries sectors under the NADRS Project. He briefed the participants about the need, benefits, objectives and progress of NADRS at the National Level. He appreciated the efforts of NIC in implementing the NADRS Project in the State.

Dr. Brij Bhushan addressed the participants on the improvement on NADRS livestock health support system. He emphasized the need for animal disease reporting system and that timely reporting of animal diseases using technology will help in reducing the loss of livestock and prevent the spread of animal diseases.

The presentation and demonstration on animal disease reporting system and NADRS Web portal was delivered by Ms. Pratibha Lokhande, followed by a presentation and demonstration on Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratories workflow application by G. Janardhan.

A discussion session was conducted to sort out various issues being encountered in the implementation of the project. The issues of  VPNoBB connectivity by BSNL and hardware maintenance by HCL, were discussed in detail and feedback was taken from all participants. The departmental officials were advised to immediately bring, such problems related to vendors and maintenance, to the notice of the NIC State Coordinator. The DIOs of NIC put forth their views on the problems faced and suggested solutions as per their experiences.

The Animal Husbandry Department presented the status of implementation of NADRS in 63 nodes of Himachal Pradesh. He assured full support and co-operation from the Department of Animal Husbandry for the effective implementation of the NADRS project in the State of Himachal Pradesh. The State Animal Husbandry Nodal officer emphasized that more trainings should be imparted to the departmental officials in future from time to time to make the project more effective and to keep alive the interest of the officials in the project.