Department of Livestock Services
Profile
- Head
- Md. Shahzaman Khan
- Role
- Director General
- Annual budget
- —
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 1971
- Legal basis
- Operates under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. Institutional lineage traces to the Civil Veterinary Department established under British India (1883), reorganised as the Directorate of Animal Husbandry, East Pakistan after Partition (1947), renamed Directorate of Livestock Services (1960), and restructured as the Department of Livestock Services after Bangladesh's independence.
DLS is advancing a major institutional modernisation agenda on two tracks: (1) the Livestock Service Transformation (LST) Project, validated at a May 13 workshop, targets making the sector export-oriented with expanded investment; (2) the first-ever national animal vaccination card system, co-developed with icddr,b, is in its final pre-rollout phase with DLS holding the central database. On supply, DLS has confirmed self-sufficiency in sacrificial animals for Eid-ul-Azha 2026 with a surplus of ~2.23 million animals over projected demand.
Recent activity
- 2026-05-13 reform DLS Director General Md. Shahzaman Khan presided over the validation workshop 'Feasibility Study of the Livestock Service Transformation (LST) Project' at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) auditorium, Dhaka. State Minister Sultan Salauddin Tuku addressed the workshop; MoFL Secretary Md. Delwar Hossain spoke as special guest. LST team leader Dr. Md. Mushfiqur Rahman presented the keynote; the Secretary called for transforming livestock into an export-oriented sector with expanded investment to tap its potential for nutritional security, employment, and foreign-exchange earnings. ↗↗↗↗
- 2026-05-03 statement Fisheries, Livestock and Agriculture Minister announced that over 12.4 million animals (5,695,878 cattle and buffaloes; 6,632,307 goats and sheep; 5,655 camels and dumba) are available for Eid-ul-Azha sacrifice, against projected demand of approximately 10.1 million, leaving a surplus of about 2.23 million animals. No imports of sacrificial animals required. ↗↗↗
- 2026-04-09 policy DLS and icddr,b jointly held a review programme on the 'Guidance for Effective Vaccination Management for Livestock, Poultry and Pets in Bangladesh' in Dhaka, marking the final phase of work toward rolling out Bangladesh's first-ever animal vaccination cards. Cards will record animal ID, vaccination history, and schedules; a central database will be maintained by DLS. The system is modelled on the human Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) card and aims to improve coverage, strengthen surveillance, and support more effective outbreak response for livestock, poultry, and companion animals. ↗↗
Provenance & notes
DLS is a national-level department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (parent_id_ref). Its institutional lineage begins with the British Civil Veterinary Department (1883), reorganised as Directorate of Animal Husbandry, East Pakistan after 1947 Partition, renamed Directorate of Livestock Services in 1960, and reconstituted as DLS after independence; established_year is set to 1971 (independence-era reconstitution). Md. Shahzaman Khan confirmed as Director General by three independent May 2026 sources (BSS, Dhaka Tribune, New Age) covering the May 13 LST validation workshop. A January 2026 BSS report cited Dr Md Abu Sufian as DG (Dairy Development Board meeting); the May 2026 sources are more recent and consistent across multiple outlets -- the DG position appears to have changed between January and May 2026. head_since is null: no official gazette date for Shahzaman Khan's appointment found in primary sources. staff_count is null: no publicly available sanctioned-post figure found; DLS maintains upazila-level offices nationwide. annual_budget_bdt is null: budget documents on dls.gov.bd list line items in Bengali PDFs without a publicly accessible consolidated total; this must be extracted directly from the FY2025-26 budget PDF before populating. Eid livestock figures (12.4 million total) cross-checked against three sources (Bonikbarta, BSS, Bangla Mirror News); sub-components (5,695,878 cattle+buffalo; 6,632,307 goats+sheep; 5,655 other) from Bonikbarta citing DLS data. Animal vaccination card initiative date (April 9, 2026) confirmed by Bangladesh Pratidin and The Daily Star independently. LST workshop date (May 13, 2026) confirmed by BSS, Dhaka Tribune, TOB News, and New Age. Verification based on 2+ independent primary sources for all factual claims.
Sources
- https://dls.gov.bd/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Livestock_Services
- https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Department_of_Livestock_Services
- https://www.devex.com/organizations/department-of-livestock-services-dls-bangladesh-121354
- https://dls.portal.gov.bd/site/page/78f224c4-8265-429a-9de9-959205caea6f
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/386728
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/agriculture/410125/state-minister-tuku-govt-private-initiatives
- https://tob.news/livestock-sector-needs-public-private-initiative-state-minister/
- https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/299700/govt-private-initiatives-vital-to-boost-livestock-sector-minister
- https://en.bonikbarta.com/bangladesh/qFxqe64qhymtz10i
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/383805
- https://banglamirrornews.com/2026/05/03/204553/
- https://en.bd-pratidin.com/national/2026/04/09/60342
- https://www.thedailystar.net/health/news/govt-moves-introduce-vaccination-cards-animals-4146776
- https://dls.gov.bd/site/page/22b1143b-9323-44f8-bfd8-647087828c9b/Livestock-Economy
- https://file-khulna.portal.gov.bd/uploads/d21710a8-7afb-4479-8b5c-a477acc8095b//68b/181/02b/68b18102b6810310731454.pdf