The PVPs had their fathers mostly engaged in government service and farming whereas few were engaged in business and private service. Mothers of the PVPs were mostly housewives (Table 5). The two districts did not differ significantly in this regard. A caste is a social category whose members are assigned a permanent status within a given social hierarchy and contacts are restricted accordingly (Lundberg et al 1968). In India, the Hindu society is stratified based on the Caste System. There are thousands of castes and sub-castes presently existing in India, but broadly they are classified into three: the General Caste, Other Backward Caste (OBC) and the Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST). Lineage is the only criterion in determining the caste of an individual in the Hindu society. And under Articles 16 (4), 335, 314, and 342 of the Constitution of India, reservations in government services are provided in favour of the SC, ST and OBC candidates with relaxation in age and qualifications and they are also exempted from the payment of application fees (GOI 2001). This brief description of the caste system in India will facilitate the readers, who are unfamiliar with the Indian caste system, to understand the categorization of the PVPs according to caste. 

All the PVPs practising in Kolkata belong to general caste category, whereas a higher (P<0.01) proportion of PVPs belonging to OBC category and also SC/ST category (P<0.05) in South 24-Parganas. However, overall, 76% of PVPs were from general caste category, indicating a clear dominance of general caste PVPs in private practice (Table 5). One possible reason for this might be that the general caste PVPs have more risk taking ability than those from the other castes. In addition, the reservation policy of the government of India might have rendered the general caste veterinarians’ unemployed, who in turn might look for opportunities in private practice. This may lead to a trend in future, where the veterinarians belonging to general caste category would be increasingly joining private practice at younger ages and in higher proportions, in comparison to their non-general caste counterparts.

Experience as veterinarians and private practitioners

Regarding experience as veterinarians, a higher (P<0.05) proportion of PVPs in South 24-Parganas had 40 years and above experience as a veterinarian. Most of the PVPs had more than 10 years of experience as a veterinarian (Table 6).  

As veterinarians, the PVPs of South 24-Parganas had greater experience over the PVPs of Kolkata, but as private practitioners, the PVPs of Kolkata had comparatively greater experience. This might have happened since majority of the PVPs start practising in semi-urban and rural areas after retirement from government or public sector veterinary services whereas, in metropolitan areas like Kolkata the greater opportunities might attract the veterinarians to start practising at an earlier age. 

The figures in Table 6 also undicate that compared to their total experience as veterinarians, the PVPs in general had lesser experience as private practitioners in the study area. This is not the case in developed countries or countries with a well established private veterinary sector where the PVPs start practising soon after graduation. Wise (1980) reported that in 1980 in general the male and female practitioners had 13 and 4 years of practising experience, respectively while the average age of the practitioners were 40 and 30 years for male and female practitioners, respectively.

Service experience in government veterinary departments

The majority of the PVPs in both the districts had served in government veterinary departments. The data amply demonstrate that the retired veterinarians having 30 and above years of experience in government service were mainly engaged in private practice. However, Kolkata had a sizeable proportion of younger PVPs signifying a more conducive atmosphere for private practice in urban areas compared to rural and semi-urban areas. Also, it can be said that experience and the financial security gathered by the PVPs during the years of government service might have helped them to accept the challenges of private practice. All the PVPs in the study area agreed that private practice was remunerative as well as satisfying. 

Income per year from private practice

In overall, 70% of the PVPs had income over Indian Rs. 1,00,000 (US$ 1061) per year. A higher (P<0.05) proportion of PVPs in Kolkata had annual income of Rs. 3,00,000 (US$ 6364) and above per year, compared with those of South 24-Parganas. 

The data (Table 7) reveal that veterinary private practice is quite remunerative as per Indian standards. It also reflects that in metropolitan areas, like Kolkata, the average income of the PVPs was greater than those in predominantly rural areas like South 24-Parganas. Interestingly in USA where private veterinary sector is well established and vibrant, Wise (1980), Wise (1991), Wise and Yang (1994), Gehrke (1995) and Wise and Adams (2000b) reported that income in large animal practice was higher than other animal practices and as reported by Wise and Adams (1999) the majority of the large animal practitioners were located in rural communities and small towns. Therefore, it may be construed that the professional income of PVPs in USA in rural and semi-urban areas is comparable to that of the PVPs working in urban areas. However, this is not the case in developing countries in general and India in particular, as is evident from the study.

Area of practice

All the PVPs in Kolkata practised in urban areas only. Whereas in South 24-Parganas the majority of the PVPs practised in urban and mixed areas and only 12% provided veterinary services to solely rural areas. A difference (P<0.01) was recorded between the districts in this regard (Table 8). 

 It can be said (Table 8) that at the moment, urban and mixed areas are more conducive to private practice than solely rural areas. Though in countries with vibrant private veterinary sector, many practitioners are found in rural areas but in the study area practitioners were mainly urban based. Also, in South Africa, the private practitioners were mainly city dwellers (Odendaal 1994). Inquiry on other sources of income apart from private practice, revealed that the majority of the PVPs had other sources of income apart from private practice. These were mainly pension after retirement from government service, family business, government job at University and private job.

This clearly reflects that very few PVPs relied solely on private practice and most of them had other sources of income to ensure them financial stability. Even a few PVPs had more than one source of income. Probably, private practice as a profitable venture on its own is yet to gain popularity and acceptance in West Bengal in particular and India in general, as none of the states in India have an established private veterinary sector as of today. 

As far as training in veterinary practice management is concerned, none of the PVPs had received any sort of training in veterinary practice management and all of them felt it as necessary. In countries where veterinary private sector is fully established, formal training courses on veterinary practice management have been started long back to equip the PVPs with managerial skills to manage private practice successfully. May be in near future with the establishment of a vibrant private sector, formal training on veterinary practice management may be offered in India too. Likewise, in Indonesia, which is currently experimenting with privatisation of veterinary services, the Indonesian Veterinary Association has recommended business and entrepreneurship training to any aspiring private service personnel (Deliveri 2001). 

Better professional satisfaction, better working conditions, freedom to operate as one desires (and attractive income were the most important reasons for the PVPs to join private practice. Significant differences between the two districts were recorded with Kolkata having significantly higher proportion of PVPs in favour of better working conditions and freedom to operate as one desires (P<0.01) and boredom with rural posting (P<0.05) than that in South 24-Parganas. 

The data reveal that in metropolitan areas, the working conditions and freedom to operate were comparatively greater as compared to semi-urban and rural areas. Probably, this is the reason for the existence of a larger number of practitioners in metropolitan areas and cities in India than in semi-urban and rural areas.

The responses of the PVPs on their inclination to join government services reveal that of the 32% PVPs in Kolkata and 12% PVPs in South 24-Parganas eligible to join government services, majority of the PVPs (24% of 32% eligible) in Kolkata would not join, whereas, all the eligible PVPs would join government service in South 24-Parganas. A significant difference (P<0.01) was recorded between the two districts in this regard. Thus, the practice in  metropolitan areas was more assuring and attractive than in non- metropolitan areas like South 24-Parganas. 

The majority of the PVPs were associated with veterinary professional organizations (Table 9) but they did not have any professional organization representing the PVPs. It implies that the PVPs have not so far organized themselves as a potential group into an organization that could take care of their problems, welfare, working conditions and other opportunities. This might be due to a small number of practitioners, that are currently dominating the private practice in India in general and West Bengal in particular. The scenario might, however, change in future with the rising number of veterinarians joining private practice. In countries with a vibrant private veterinary sector, this type of organization exists. For example, in France, "Ordre des Veterinaires" (membership compulsory for all practitioners) and "Syndicat National des Veterinaires d'Exercice Liberal (SNVEL)" (membership optional) are professional organizations representing the PVPs (CNVSPA [AFVAC] 2001). “Vet-to-Vet Forum” is one such internet association of the PVPs in USA (http://ww.vetmedicine.about.com).

 

Types of animals treated

The PVPs were asked to rank order the different types of animals treated by them. Points were allotted to each rank arbitrarily (Figure 1). First rank was awarded the maximum (7 point) and seventh rank was given the minimum (1 point).

Figure 1: Types of animals treated by PSPs (LR Large Ruminants, SR Small Ruminants,
 PA Pet Animals,  P Poultry, GA Game Animals, H Horses, S Swine)

 Most of the practitioners in Kolkata were predominantly pet practitioners, treating cats and dogs (Figure 1). In South 24-Parganas, the number of PVPs treating large ruminants was higher. Similar findings were reported by Wise and Adams (1999) in USA, where large animal exclusive and large animal predominant practitioners are in the majority in rural communities while small animal exclusive and small animal predominant practitioners were the majority in urban areas. 

All the PVPs in the study area possessed a drug index (Table 9), but not a veterinary drug index. In Kolkata, more PVPs had human drug index than veterinary drug index as they were engaged in the treatment of small animals (pets) mainly and for whom they prescribed mainly human drugs.

Subscription to veterinary journals and publication of articles

A higher (P<0.01) proportion of the PVPs in Kolkata subscribed to veterinary journals regularly compared with those in South 24-Parganas. This might be due to the fact that veterinary practice in metros like Kolkata is more challenging as well as competitive. Hence, the PVPs subscribed veterinary journals regularly to keep abreast with the latest know how of veterinary sciences.  Regarding publication of articles, a higher (P<0.01) proportion of PVPs in Kolkata had published articles, mainly on clinical cases and research. 

 

Attendance in scientific conferences and promotion of activities

Only 20% of PVPs attended scientific conferences regularly, 38% occasionally and 42% PVPs never attended any scientific conferences (table 11). No significant difference was recorded in this regard between the two districts. Probably, the PVPs owing to their busy schedule do not get time and opportunity to attend scientific conferences on a regular basis. Also, they might not consider it important from the point of view of their job.

The PVPs mainly promoted their practice through signboards at chambers/clinics and through advertisements in public places in local areas. Few PVPs used local newspapers and internet for promoting their practice and the two districts did not differ significantly in this regard. The highly localized nature of their practice probably prevented them from using mass media like newspaper or internet. They relied mostly on media of local importance for the purpose. In contrast in USA, Hannah (2001) and Sigmon et al (2001) reported that some internet sites were prescribing treatment for animals and substantial participation by veterinary practitioners.
 

Conclusions

The private veterinary sector in India is still in its infancy with veterinarians retired from the government services dominating it and very few practitioners depending solely on it for livelihood. Not many young veterinarians dare to venture into the field of private practice, especially in semi-urban and rural areas, probably due to the unfair competition between private and government veterinarians. The fact that the government absorbs a large proportion of the service delivery cost (including the salary and benefits to the veterinary staff),  together with the highly subsidized nature of these services,  results in an un-level playing field for the PVPs to operate in. However, the urban areas are increasingly offering opportunities for younger veterinarians to venture into private practice as compared to the rural areas. Moreover, with the increasing unemployment in the veterinary sector because of the fiscal constraints currently being faced by the governments of most developing countries, the scenario is changing. Young veterinarians, waiting to get jobs in public services, either by default these days are going for higher education or resorting to private practice. And in coming years with the expected downsizing of the public sectors in developing countries, the proportion of PVPs venturing into private practice is bound to increase. 

In countries with a vibrant private veterinary sector, practitioners venture into the field of private practice at a much younger age than those in India.. The probable reason is that, in India, the veterinarians are attracted more by government jobs and therefore prefer the security of public sector veterinary services than facing the challenges of private practice at the start of their career. Thus the majority of veterinarians joins private practice after retirement from the public sector. Although the PVPs largely cited professional satisfaction, freedom and better working conditions to be the reason in for private practice, the real motive might be that they view private practice as a potential source of additional income to supplement their regular income sources, like pensions and businesses. The important differences between the PVPs of developing and developed countries are highlighted in Table 12. 

 In 1976, the National Commission on Agriculture recommended the Government of India to encourage private veterinary practice by providing suitable incentives to the veterinarians in order to augment the efforts of the government veterinarians in protecting the health of the livestock (GOI 1976). In spite of the recommendations, no encouragement was given to PVPs by the Government. However, the Government of India, faced with budgetary constraints, has now decided to encourage young veterinarians to start their own private practice through the provision of agri-clinics as envisaged in the budget 2001-2002 (Sinha 2001). Projects like the diversified agricultural support project (UPDASP) initiated in Uttar Pradesh and financed by the World Bank in which 180 private veterinary clinics will be set up throughout Uttar Pradesh (UPDASP 1999), might attract younger veterinarians to open their own private practice. These small steps taken by the government, definitely will have far reaching implications towards privatisation of veterinary services in the long run. 

At the moment, however, the PVPs mainly exist in urban belts. In contrast, in countries with an established private veterinary sector like USA, Australia and other developed European countries, PVPs exist in both rural and urban areas, and comprise of both sexes. The incomes of the rural and urban PVPs do not differ markedly there and hence, no distinct preference among the PVPs about the area of practice is observed there. This is indicative of a strong rural economy, stable enough to support private veterinary practice. However, in India as well as in other developing countries with similar socio-economic conditions, the rural economy is characterized by utter poverty, and this discourages the PVPs to set up their practice in rural areas. There is also the  unfair competition with the public sector. 

In order to achieve a vibrant private veterinary sector in future, the Indian government must, in this regard, provide some encouragement for the PVPs to set up their practice in rural areas. The encouragement may be in the form of soft loans with easy terms. In the USA, where there is a  highly remunerative private sector, nevertheless there are provisions for loans for the PVPs to establish private clinic. These loans will not only attract the young veterinarians but also may encourage the female veterinarians to venture into the field of private practice. As of today, the private veterinary sector is male dominated. 

The loans might also attract the PVPs to set up their clinics in rural areas and to set up practice in areas deprived of modern veterinary health care facilities. This is urgently needed in a country like India where the veterinary services sector, having a coverage of 30 to 40% in health services sector and 15 to 20% in AI sector, is till now unable to cater for the needs of the rural livestock owners, who resort mostly to paravets and quacks for treatment of their animals.  

The conclusions of the study are:

• Private practice in India in general and West Bengal in particular is in the domain of mainly retired veterinarians who venture into private practice after retirement from the public sector. 

• Though private practice generates a substantial amount of money (in Indian scenario), very few PVPs rely on it as a sole source of income. Private practice is viewed primarily as an additional source of income.

•   Private practitioners are mostly restricted to urban belts and very few practise in rural areas.

For obvious reasons, the animal health service sector may not be fully privatized in developing countries like India, as these services under government provision still have a strong role. But, the private sector can play a complementary role to the public sector veterinary services by bringing in vast areas of the country under modern veterinary health care which are till the present date uncovered. Rough estimates put annual loss on account of epidemic and endemic diseases, parasites and other pests in India as approximately US$ 1.5 billion, which occur mostly due to absence of modern veterinary care in vast areas of the country.

 

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 Received 9 September 2001