Kerala woman’s mobile vet hospital sits idle despite past accolades

Thrissur: In 2020, Priya Prakash from Kerala made headlines for launching India’s first mobile multi-speciality veterinary hospital, an initiative that won her a ₹25 lakh central government award. The project, established at a cost of ₹1 crore, sterilised 3,894 dogs and provided employment to 10 people.

Honoured as one of the country’s top women entrepreneurs, Priya now finds herself in a difficult situation. The mobile hospital vehicle, once a symbol of innovation, now sits abandoned in an open area in Poomala, following a court order that restricted dog sterilisation to agencies accredited by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).

Although local bodies are not barred from carrying out sterilisation drives, Priya said no calls have come for such services since the ruling. As a result, the mobile unit had to be moved to the roadside in August 2022.

Without a permanent home, Priya had rented a space to park the vehicle, but the landlord eventually asked her to vacate after it had been stationed there for an extended period. Unable to find another affordable place, she relocated to the outskirts of Poomala.

Priya now faces a pending bank loan of ₹24 lakh. She cannot dismantle or sell the vehicle, and repayment of the loan is essential for her to receive a ₹9 lakh subsidy from NABARD.

A trained veterinary nurse, Priya, had launched the mobile hospital, named 'Shraddha', through the Agri Business Incubator of Kerala Agricultural University. The initiative was selected as one of India’s best under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, through which the central government provided her the ₹25 lakh grant.

Priya currently works as a paravet with the Animal Husbandry Department’s mobile clinic.