‘Livestock assets plan aimed at empowering women’

LAHORE:Minister for Livestock and Agriculture Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani has said distribution of livestock assets to rural women in South Punjab is aimed at empowering women.

Speaking at a meeting held at Livestock Department here on Thursday, the provincial minister emphasised that these projects will be significant milestones for the prosperity of livestock farmers and poor rural women.

He stated that the distribution of livestock assets to rural women in South Punjab is a key component of the chief minister’s programme aimed at women’s empowerment. He maintained that for the distribution of assets, 5,500 widowed and divorced women will be selected through an electronic balloting, based on the designated quota for the 12 districts in the first year.

Afterwards, best livestock assets such as cows and buffaloes will be distributed to the selected women through a manual balloting, he said and directed livestock field officers to inform farmers about the Chief Minister’s Livestock Card and the distribution of assets to widowed and divorced women, ensuring that as many people as possible benefit from these initiatives. To date, over 110,000 widowed and divorced women have submitted applications through the app. While, PITB has sent 14,500 applications for physical verification to the Urban Unit, he said and added that 97,000 applications have been received for the Chief Minister’s Livestock Card, and approximately 32,000 applications have been sent for verification by the Urban Unit.

To date, 6,727 eligible applicants have been verified, with a total of 48,739 livestock animals registered. The verification process for additional applications is ongoing, he said and instructed PITB and livestock officials to contact farmers who are not interested in the Livestock Card, ensuring that their calls are recorded and encouraging them to apply for the Livestock Card.

He also directed the establishment of centres and counters across Punjab to facilitate the farmers for collection of Livestock Cards. He issued orders to form a steering committee under the headship of the Chief Secretary of Punjab to ensure the facilitation of cash services for the Livestock Card and to address other related matters.