LAHORE: The Punjab Livestock & Dairy Development Department (L&DDD) Punjab has so far delivered over 11,000 livestock cards to the farmers under the “Chief Minister Punjab’s Livestock Card” scheme for boosting the meat and milk production in the province by extending financial support.
The Department has received a total of 117,750 applications from the livestock farmers under this scheme, and the Bank of Punjab has approved around 14,000 applications out of these requests, said the Punjab Minister for Livestock, Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani, while presiding over a departmental meeting here on Thursday.
The meeting reviewed the progress of the Punjab Chief Minister’s Livestock Card distribution and the distribution of livestock assets among rural widowed and divorced women in South Punjab. Secretary of Livestock Punjab Saqib Ali Ateel also participated.
Speaking on this occasion, the Minister said the Livestock Card is an excellent initiative of the Punjab Chief Minister that will benefit livestock farmers. Through the Livestock Card, farmers will be able to purchase animal feed, silage, and mineral mixtures. The Livestock Card provides farmers with interest-free loans of Rs. 27,000 per animal, said the Minister.
The distribution of the livestock card by the Punjab Chief Minister began on December 5. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif officially launched the card on January 9 in Pakpattan. These livestock holders own a total of 99,000 animals, and the verification process for additional applicants is still ongoing.
The Minister said there are 942 registered merchants for the Livestock Card across Punjab. The purchasing process through the Livestock Card started on December 16, and so far, livestock farmers have made purchases worth 21 crore rupees. A notification has been issued for establishing a steering committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary of Punjab to provide a 30% cash facility and manage other related matters for the livestock card, said the minister.
The meeting also reviewed the project for distributing livestock assets to rural widowed and divorced women in South Punjab, which will prove to be a milestone for the prosperity of poor women. This initiative is a major program for empowering women by the Punjab Chief Minister. For the distribution of assets among rural women, 5,000 widowed and divorced women will be selected in the first year through an electronic lottery, based on the designated quota of 12 districts, said Minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani.
So far, over 110,000 women have submitted applications. The PITB has sent about 14,500 applications for physical verification to the Urban Unit. So far, more than 3,000 applications have been deemed eligible.
The meeting was attended by Additional Secretary of Livestock, Usman Tahir, Directors General of Extension and production (Livestock), Executive Vice President of the Bank of Punjab, Riaz Usman Mujahid, representatives from PITB, Urban Unit, and the Punjab Social Protection Authority.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025