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LAHORE, Nov 14 (APP):On the instructions of the Chief Minister Punjab, the Agriculture Department, in collaboration with the Bank of Punjab, has initiated the process of providing kissan cards to another 250,000 farmers of non-computerized villages.
The Chief Minister Punjab had ordered increasing the number of kissan cards from 5 to 7.5 lac.
Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Akhtar Zaman on Thursday presided over a meeting of the Kissan Card Steering Committee at Civil Secretariat, with the secretary agriculture, authorities of the Bank of Punjab and officers concerned in attendance. The meeting considered allowing cash withdrawal of up to 30 percent, besides the purchase of agricultural inputs through the kissan card.
The Chief Secretary directed that the process of issuance of the cards should be completed at the earliest and full support would be provided to the farmers for obtaining the ‘fard malkiat’ required for registration.
He said that the kissan card was getting a lot of praise among farmers, adding that the Punjab government was committed to resolving the problems of small farmers.
The Secretary Agriculture gave a detailed briefing at the meeting.
He said that so far more than 485,000 farmers got their cards. He mentioned that in the last twenty days, the farmers had purchased fertilizers and seeds worth Rs 18 billion through their cards.
He said that farmers were provided the facility of purchasing agricultural inputs on interest-free loans from registered dealers across the province through kissan card, while the facility of cash withdrawal up to 30 percent was also under consideration.