LAHORE: Over 170,000 farmers have so far received ‘Kissan Card’, under the Chief Minister Punjab’s initiatives to boost agri production in the province, enabling them to have access to credit for buying inputs for the cultivation of crops.
The Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) has achieved the target of registering one million farmers under this scheme out of which the Bank of Punjab (the lending agency) has confirmed the eligibility of 370,000 farmers to date, and the verification of others is under process.
Punjab Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani disclosed this during a meeting held on Wednesday to review the process of registration, verification and delivery of these farmer cards. The meeting also reviewed the preparations for the formal launching of this scheme.
The Minister further said that over 2500 merchants, selling agricultural inputs have also been registered under this scheme and billboards carrying necessary information about the schemes have been displayed on their outlets.
The Minister said that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif is well aware of the problems of the farmers and is working day and night to solve them. Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani directed to speed up the process of receiving the card and in this regard, the eligible farmers’ card applicants. Therefore, he emphasized the need for effective campaigning and door-to-door messaging to achieve the target of delivery of five lakh cards.
The Provincial Minister further said that 136 delivery centres have been established at the tehsil level for the provision of Kisan Cards. On this occasion, Kirmani further said that Kisan cards will be operational from October 15 for the purchase of agricultural inputs from registered dealers.
Secretary Agriculture, Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, Special Secretary Agriculture Punjab Agha Nabeel, Additional Secretary Agriculture (Admin) Dr Ijaz Munir, Additional Secretary Agriculture (Planning) Captain Waqas Rashid (retd), Director General Agricultural Information Punjab Naveed Asmat Kahloon and other officers participated.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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