Nestled amongst the pristine hills of Palampur, Dr GC Negi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences has continued its glorious journey since its inception in 1986 to provide excellent facilities for quality education and academic rigor, ensuring professional success of students.
by Prof Mandeep Sharma, Dr Adarsh Kumar, and Dr Virender Pathak
The institution has emerged as a premier institute of veterinary education in the country. The outreach programmes, research, faculty, and specialisations make the institute very sought after amongst many domestic and international students.
Our Rewarding Journey
Prof Mandeep Sharma shares, “I was selected as an Assistant Professor at the college in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology after which I became head for 19 years. I also had the opportunity to serve this university as Associate Director of Research and for the last 5 years I have been the dean. I have been teaching from the first batch and I am proud to say we have esteemed faculty and students who by choice want to become veterinarians and are passionate and motivated. This is a big inspiration for us to keep improving our institute in every aspect.”
Dr Adarsh Kumar shares, “We have 975 alumni the top brass of the Department of Animal Husbandry and State’s biggest laboratory which is a disease investigation laboratory is being manned by the alumni of this college. Our college is a tertiary referral facility and popularly known as PGI for animals – we have people coming here from across the state and also from the neighbouring states.”
“Almost 30 years back in 1992-93, I took admission in this college as an undergraduate student. I never thought that one day I would be serving this institute as a faculty. I have seen the stellar growth of this college first as a student and then as faculty”, tells Dr Virender Pathak.
Strengths and Forte
Prof Mandeep Sharma throws light on the Advance Veterinary Multispecialty Centre. It is a referral centre throughout the state of Himachal Pradesh. Our interns are serving 24×7, under the guidance of our faculty, keeping animal welfare of pets and strays as their guiding light and mission. We treat about 8500 cases a year, and perform 5-6 surgeries daily, and the number is growing. He further adds that they regularly go for organising clinical camps for vets in the interiors. One important change seen is that their students are shouldering more responsibilities and refer back to their clinic for tedious cases and guidance to handle them.
Dr Virender Pathak tells us that the college is always known for the quality of employable graduate passing out. With a focus on providing practical exposure to students so that they not only can survive but excel in private sector, R&D institutes, and perform well in institutes outside the country. Their clinical subjects are quite popular amongst students from north India. Paraclinical subjects are also getting best research and thesis awards quite regularly.
Dr Adarsh Kumar mentions that their forte is Post-Graduate in Clinical Sciences. Specialised work is being done in cataract surgery, ophthalmology, diagnostic imaging, orthopaedics, etc. Specialised trainings are held for students and veterinarians where we call experts from America, Germany, and Italy. They are also working on the conservation of the local breed—the Himalayan Shepherd dog and trying to find the right gene pool.
Facing Challenges Together for the Road Ahead
“Although the faculty is responding to the challenges quite admirably but the pace of amenities and infrastructure in terms of number of students seeking admission, is lagging behind. The number of hostels, lab space and non-teaching staff needs attention from the government. To keep pace with the best colleges of the world we need to provide exposure to faculty and match the latest equipment and labs for quality services to farmers and scientific community,” shares Dr Virender Pathak. He further adds that schools should introduce small curriculum on animal welfare at initial years so that the young mind could be sensitised at a formative stage. We need large number of animal rehabilitation centres for care of stray animals and encourage adoption of stray animals.
Joining Hands for a Pawsitive World
Prof Mandeep Sharma truly feels very happy when an Indie dog gets adopted and feels that such cases are on the rise. At the same time it breaks his heart to see a pet not been given his/her basic rights or being abandoned – which indeed is very cruel. He shares that stakeholders should come together and make a better world for pets as together we can make a wider difference.
Companies under their corporate social responsibilities should try and give their share in areas where development is needed for animal welfare and care, tells Dr Adarsh Kumar. He further adds that associated stakeholder should have joint policies. The main thing is everybody is working in isolation. A common problem platform should be there wherein we work for the betterment of animals and human kind in tandem.
Dr Virender Pathak says he wants to see people opting for native breeds as pets, as they are not only disease resistant but will also encourage recognition of native animals. You should do some homework before getting home a pet. The industry should also focus on providing products that are affordable and open new avenues for animal welfare and research.
(Prof Mandeep Sharma (Dean), Dr Adarsh Kumar (Professor) are from the Dept of Veterinary Surgery; and Dr Virender Pathak (Asst Prof) is from the Dept of Veterinary Anatomy, Dr GC Negi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences)