CM’s Kisan Card, Green Tractor Scheme key to famers’ prosperity

LAHORE:Punjab Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani has said that Punjab Chief Minister Kisan Card and Green Tractor Scheme will prove to be a game changer for the prosperity of farmers. He maintained that till now the registration process of more than 800,000 farmers for Chief Minister Kisan Card has been completed and Bank of Punjab after scrutiny has approved more than 280,000 farmers for obtaining Chief Minister Kisan Card.

The provincial minister for agriculture and livestock expressed these views while presiding over the progress review meeting of Chief Minister Kisan Card and Green Tractor Scheme at the Agriculture House Lahore on Thursday. On this occasion, the minister endorsed that at the places where till now due to non-computerisation, farmers had been facing difficulty in getting Kisan Card, special teams have been formed for manual verification and messages have been sent to farmers.

He further said that the Kisan Card will prove to be the identity of the farmers in the future. Every subsidy received under Punjab govt will be provided to the farmers through Kisan Card. So far, 137 delivery centres have been set up at the tehsil level for delivery of Kisan Card in the province. On this occasion, Bank of Punjab President Zafar Masud said that 112,000 Kisan Cards have been prepared till now while a total of 250,000 cards will be available for supply to the farmers by September 15.

On this occasion, Syed Ashiq Kirmani gave instructions that these Kisan Cards should be made operational from October 15 for the purchase of agriculture inputs. He maintained that farmers will be able to purchase seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural inputs from 2,160 registered dealers across the province with Kisan Card. Regular monitoring of the purchase process will also be possible with these cards. The minister while giving instructions, said that it should be mentioned on the Pina Flexes in the tehsil centres that these cards will be able to available for wheat crop.

While reviewing the progress related to the Green Tractor Scheme, Punjab agriculture minister said that 9,500 tractors will be provided to the farmers under the Chief Minister Punjab Green Tractor Scheme across the province and the Punjab government should provide a subsidy of Rs9 billion 500 million in this regard. A digital balloting will be conducted for these tractors in a transparent manner in proportion to the district quota.

Later, Punjab Agriculture and Livestock Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani inaugurated the Lahore Tehsil Supply Centre for Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card. On this occasion, the provincial minister also inspected the front desk and delivery point.

On this occasion, Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, President Bank of Punjab Zafar Masud, Agriculture Extension DG Ch Abdul Hameed, Punjab Agricultural Information DG Naveed Ismat Kahlon and Group Chief Corporate and Investment Bank of Punjab Nofal Dawood and other senior officers were also present.