After battling with massacres and riots, WB’s cup of woe still runneth over with the attack of the killer virus!
The legendary town of Hamelin infested with rats (sans the rescuer Pied Piper) comes to mind as soon as one hears of the Bird Flu
menace in West Bengal that has engulfed nearly the entire state by infecting 13 districts and 42 blocks with the pestilent H5N1 virus. The city of Kolkata is under siege by the deadly virus. And, before the death knell sounds for the metropolis, government bigwigs in the Writers’ Building have taken all possible actions to circumvent the spread of the virus into the city, such as, banning entry of all the poultry products in the city. The posh Salt Lake City (satellite town of Kolkata) in fact, has not only banned the entry but also sale of chickens & ducks. However, according to a police officer, the fool proof implementation of such a plan is next to impossible. For instance, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has allowed entry of products from 14 authorised poultry farms.
The state has incurred colossal losses worth Rs.500 crores in poultry business and above three lakh people have lost their source of livelihood since the virus was first detected in Margram in Birbhum district 12 days back. Making a choice between human life over chickens by worldly standards of rationality, the culling process continues, albeit slowly. By far 200,000 chickens have been culled (as on 29th Jan’06), while 300,000 chickens will be culled in the next few days. The cost of losing one’s source of livelihood (indemnity) as announced by the State Finance Minister, Asim Dasgupta is a meagre Rs.500 per affected family. While he claims of giving the compensation money on the spot during the culling operation, the B&E team’s findings from a primary source deduce otherwise.
In spite of the world despising the ‘sick’ birds that are relished when in the pink of their health, the heart of their owners reaches out for them, every time it is about killing them in the name of culling.
It was recently that about 45 chickens were found dead in the Nolpur village of Howrah district. “We took the initiative and sent the blood samples for testing,” said Sunil Bagh, a member of the Gram Panchayat in a concerned voice. Three days later, reports confirmed that the chickens were indeed infected with Bird Flu. As a result, the district magistrate arranged for culling within 10 kms radius of Nolpur (that included seven Gram Panchayats). “More than 2,000 chickens have been culled as of 26th January (in the undergoing operation) with an estimated loss of Rs.70,000”, said Mr. Bagh. Amidst the culling of infected birds, while several poultry owners grieved at the loss of money, several like Kiran Naskar who owned close to 300 birds fretted, “My chickens were not even infected, therefore culling of all chickens wasn’t right.” To most, it is about the industry and trade loss, while to many who own the birds as pets, it is like losing a loved one. Thirty-two year old, Shaikh Ludh Rahman, who owned six chickens and four ducks, handed them over, on his own, half-heartedly, to the culling team. So did Younous Mallick who had 12 chickens and repeatedly said, “We weren’t into the business, we loved them.”
Another newly infected area, the historical city of Budge Budge had a relatively different atmosphere. The vibes were more of fear and concern for well-being of the people than trade and business. Forget about, pitying the poor little souls under ‘operation culling’ that are going through the highly contagious bird disease, said to rarely infect humans. The panic at the sudden outbreak of Bird Flu in the area was clearly visible in everybody’s eyes, right from the rickshaw-puller to the gram Panchayat members. To add to the woes, the process of culling the infected birds couldn’t begin in Goborjhuri village where 100 birds were found dead in a single day, since the confirmation reports in this certain case were pending. Anxiety was at peak when the Panchayat Pradhan, Mokhuri Doloi haggled with the authorities and urged them to “Please solve the matter quickly for us”.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
The legendary town of Hamelin infested with rats (sans the rescuer Pied Piper) comes to mind as soon as one hears of the Bird Flu
menace in West Bengal that has engulfed nearly the entire state by infecting 13 districts and 42 blocks with the pestilent H5N1 virus. The city of Kolkata is under siege by the deadly virus. And, before the death knell sounds for the metropolis, government bigwigs in the Writers’ Building have taken all possible actions to circumvent the spread of the virus into the city, such as, banning entry of all the poultry products in the city. The posh Salt Lake City (satellite town of Kolkata) in fact, has not only banned the entry but also sale of chickens & ducks. However, according to a police officer, the fool proof implementation of such a plan is next to impossible. For instance, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has allowed entry of products from 14 authorised poultry farms.The state has incurred colossal losses worth Rs.500 crores in poultry business and above three lakh people have lost their source of livelihood since the virus was first detected in Margram in Birbhum district 12 days back. Making a choice between human life over chickens by worldly standards of rationality, the culling process continues, albeit slowly. By far 200,000 chickens have been culled (as on 29th Jan’06), while 300,000 chickens will be culled in the next few days. The cost of losing one’s source of livelihood (indemnity) as announced by the State Finance Minister, Asim Dasgupta is a meagre Rs.500 per affected family. While he claims of giving the compensation money on the spot during the culling operation, the B&E team’s findings from a primary source deduce otherwise.
In spite of the world despising the ‘sick’ birds that are relished when in the pink of their health, the heart of their owners reaches out for them, every time it is about killing them in the name of culling.
It was recently that about 45 chickens were found dead in the Nolpur village of Howrah district. “We took the initiative and sent the blood samples for testing,” said Sunil Bagh, a member of the Gram Panchayat in a concerned voice. Three days later, reports confirmed that the chickens were indeed infected with Bird Flu. As a result, the district magistrate arranged for culling within 10 kms radius of Nolpur (that included seven Gram Panchayats). “More than 2,000 chickens have been culled as of 26th January (in the undergoing operation) with an estimated loss of Rs.70,000”, said Mr. Bagh. Amidst the culling of infected birds, while several poultry owners grieved at the loss of money, several like Kiran Naskar who owned close to 300 birds fretted, “My chickens were not even infected, therefore culling of all chickens wasn’t right.” To most, it is about the industry and trade loss, while to many who own the birds as pets, it is like losing a loved one. Thirty-two year old, Shaikh Ludh Rahman, who owned six chickens and four ducks, handed them over, on his own, half-heartedly, to the culling team. So did Younous Mallick who had 12 chickens and repeatedly said, “We weren’t into the business, we loved them.”
Another newly infected area, the historical city of Budge Budge had a relatively different atmosphere. The vibes were more of fear and concern for well-being of the people than trade and business. Forget about, pitying the poor little souls under ‘operation culling’ that are going through the highly contagious bird disease, said to rarely infect humans. The panic at the sudden outbreak of Bird Flu in the area was clearly visible in everybody’s eyes, right from the rickshaw-puller to the gram Panchayat members. To add to the woes, the process of culling the infected birds couldn’t begin in Goborjhuri village where 100 birds were found dead in a single day, since the confirmation reports in this certain case were pending. Anxiety was at peak when the Panchayat Pradhan, Mokhuri Doloi haggled with the authorities and urged them to “Please solve the matter quickly for us”.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
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Top Articles on IIPM:-
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IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
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