LAHORE: A ceremony to launch the registration of Chief Minister Punjab Kissan Card was held at Agriculture House, here on Tuesday.
Minister for Agriculture Punjab Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani attended the event as a special guest.
Speaking on the occasion, Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said that the Chief Minister Punjab’s Rs 400 billion “Transforming Punjab Agriculture Programme” would be a game changer for agricultural development and farmers’ prosperity in the province. He further said that under this program, registration of Chief Minister Punjab Kissan Card was being started today, through which farmers were being provided with the facility of getting interest-free agricultural loan with a huge amount of Rs.300 billion.
Minister Kirmani further said that more than 10,000 online applications had been received so far for the registration of Chief Minister Punjab Kissan Card. He clarified that the the prosperity of the farmers was the aim of the government. “That is why farmers will be protected from the expl
oitation of middlemen through Kissan Card. Farmers will be provided interest-free agricultural loans up to Rs 30,000 per acre for one crop. The Punjab government will further increase the scope and funding of Kissan Card”, he added.
He said that owners of 1 to 12.5 acres of agricultural land would benefit from this scheme. This project had been started in collaboration with the Agriculture department and Bank of Punjab. Farmer would be able to get interest-free agricultural loan up to Rs 150,000 per farmer through Kissan Card”, he added. He further said that the farmers would be able to purchase agricultural inputs for their crops in time, which would increase the per acre yield of crops. The Agriculture Minister appealed to the farmers that they should pay the Kissan Card loan within six months, which would enable the availability of interest-free agricultural loan for the next crop as well.
On this occasion, Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo said that 5 lakh farmers would benefit from Kiss
an Card. He further said that implementation of Kissan card had initiated with slogan “First Come, First Served”. Through the Kissan Card, quality fertilizers and seeds would be available to the farmers at fixed prices, he added. He said that the farmers would not have to visit any office for the issuance of Kissan Card and for the convenience of the farmers, they would be able to get the Kissan Card through SMS alert.
The Agriculture Secretary Punjab clarified that Agriculture Department, Bank of Punjab, NADRA, Punjab Information Technology Board and Punjab Land Record Authority were working together to issue Kissan Card. In future, more facilities and services would be provided to farmers through Chief Minister Punjab Kissan Card. Farmers would be able to purchase fertilizers, seeds and agricultural medicines through POS machines from 10,000 registered dealers in Punjab province and would not have to pay extra money to middlemen, he added.
The ceremony was attended by senior officials of Agriculture Depa
rtment, Punjab and representatives of Bank of Punjab, NADRA, Punjab Information Technology Board and a large number of farmers.
At the end of the ceremony, Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani awarded the shields to the officers of the Agriculture and other allied departments who performed significant work for the issuance of Chief Minister Punjab Kissan Card.