LAHORE: Provincial Agriculture Minister Ashiq Hussain Kirmani presided over a meeting at Agriculture House here in which Punjab Bank Kisan Dost Credit Card Scheme was reviewed.
Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, PITB Chairman Faisal Yusuf, Punjab Bank Group Head Retail Banking Naufal Dawood, officials of Agriculture Department attended the meeting.
Giving a detailed briefing on the timelines and other issues of the project, Group Head of Punjab Bank, Naufal Dawood said that credit facility for agriculture inputs through digital framework has been proposed for all small farmers across Punjab. The loan will be given on easy terms and 10 percent interest rate. Initially, the scheme is proposed to be given to 500,000 farmers and having a minimum of five acres and a maximum of 25 acres of land.
The initial financial cost for the Punjab government will be Rs10.34 billion, he said. Total loans worth Rs75 billion for a period of six months will be given to farmers, he informed. The main stakeholders will be Bank of Punjab, Board of Revenue, Punjab Land Record Authority, Department of Agriculture and Finance and Punjab Information Technology Board.
It was agreed in the meeting that the workable proposals would be finalised in the next meeting while the final approval would be given by the chief minister and then the project would be formally launched.
On this occasion, Agriculture Minister said that according to the vision of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the first priority of the Punjab government was the prosperity of the farmers and providing them with maximum facilities. He directed to ensure transparency in the online application process and estimate the subsidy given to farmers on agricultural inputs after six months for the success of Kisan Dost Credit Card Scheme.
The provincial minister said that soft terms and interest-free loan facility both options should be included in the project. Ashiq Kirmani further said that the card should be used by the farmers only for the supply of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. The card should not be used for cash withdrawal.
The minister maintained that if the farmers are getting any benefit from Master Card, then it is fine; otherwise Pak Pay Card should be used in place of Master Card.
Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo said that there is a need for Punjab Bank to simplify the terms and conditions of Kisan Dost Credit Card Scheme and present the financial model in the next meeting. He said that the approval of funds for this project should not be done according to the PC1 procedure as it is quite long. Iftikhar Ali Sahoo said that subsidy should be given to deserving and targeted beneficiaries through Kisan Dost Credit Card project.
