State land to be cleared of illegal occupiers: Kirmani

LAHORE:Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani on Monday said that the department was actively working on removing illegal occupiers from its land with a zero-tolerance policy.

The minister stated this while presiding over a meeting held at Agriculture House.The meeting comprehensively reviewed the progress on projects aimed at agricultural development in line with the Punjab Chief Minister’s directives, including a robust campaign against illegal encroachments on government lands.

He said that no political influence would be entertained in this regard. He instructed the Seed Corporation, Agricultural Universities in Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi, Research Institutes, Pest Warning department and the Agriculture Extension Department to submit detailed reports regarding illegal occupations on their lands.

He asserted that private occupiers had no justification for maintaining their unlawful possession on government land.The minister announced that the second phase of the Kisan Card would include small and medium-scale farmers owning up to 25 acres of land, with an increase in the per-acre loan limit to benefit more farmers.

Under the Green Tractor Programme, 9,500 farmers were selected through a ballot, of which 9,375 had deposited their share of the payment, he said and added that by March 15, a total of 9,000 tractors would be handed over.

The minister further said that Solarisation of Agricultural Tube-Wells Programme had received over 533,000 applications, with 385,128 applications verified through a draw and 14,648 approved. Among these applications, more than 64,000 were for electric tube-wells, and over 46,000 for diesel tube-wells. So far, 7,911 successful farmers had been issued allotment letters.

He said that the construction of Model Agriculture Malls in Sahiwal would be completed by April 15 and work was ongoing swiftly in Multan, Bahawalpur and Sargodha in this regard. Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo said that the department was working with deputy commissioners to reclaim encroached lands, following clear instructions from the Punjab Chief Minister. He also assured that the Chief Minister’s Farmer Package was being implemented according to the timeline.