A meeting was held under the chairmanship of Minister for Agriculture & Livestock Punjab Ashiq Hussain Kirmani, to review the recovery campaign of the second phase of Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card and the relief operations for flood-affected people.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, President Bank of Punjab Zafar Masud, Additional Secretary Agriculture Task Force Punjab Muhammad Shabbir Ahmad Khan, Director General Agriculture Extension Ch. Abdul Hameed, Nofal Dawood, Hafiz Abdul Rahman, Rana Mehmood Akhtar and Directors of Agriculture Extension also joined via video link. The meeting conducted a detailed review of the recovery campaign of the second phase of Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card and the relief operations for flood-affected people.
Ashiq Kirmani, while addressing the meeting, said that the Punjab Chief Minister has announced a historic package for flood relief and the field formations of the Agriculture department have played a highly commendable role in rehabilitation and relief measures for flood victims. He further stated that the Chief Minister Punjab Kisan Card has now become the identity of farmers and it is the largest microfinance program in the history of the country. Under the program, interest-free loans of more than Rs 160 billion have been provided to farmers so far, while in the second phase, more than five hundred thousand farmers have benefited from this facility. During this phase, interest-free loans amounting to Rs 96.54 billion have been approved and farmers have already spent Rs 57.72 billion. He further informed that the campaign for repayment of Kisan Card loans will start from October 15. Farmers who make prompt repayment of loans will be given prizes through a transparent balloting process. Upon full repayment of the loan, Kisan Card holders will immediately be provided funds for sowing the next crop. He added that farmers will also be given special facilities for digital payments for loan repayment, and for this purpose, they will be reminded through SMS and robo-calls.
Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, addressing the meeting, said that the field teams of the Agriculture Department Punjab and the Bank of Punjab will play an active role in the recovery of Kisan Card loans, and close coordination will be maintained in this regard so that farmers are provided with full facilities for repayment of loans. He emphasized that the recovery of the Kisan Card will be reviewed on a daily basis.
On the occasion, President Bank of Punjab Zafar Masud stressed that field formations of the Agriculture Department will also be rewarded on the recovery of Kisan Card loans.