Murghi Paal scheme to end on July 1

Funds for programme to last till June 30, says official

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab government has decided to halt the poultry and cattle breeding programmes from July 1.

Poultry Research Institute Rawalpindi Assistant Director Dr Atif Mehmood told The Express Tribune that all relief funds meant for the two cottage industry programmes have been closed immediately.

He added that directions have been given that no funds of any kind will be allocated for this in the new provincial budget.

Regular orders have also been issued by the Punjab government to the Poultry Research Institute and the Agriculture Department in this regard, he said, adding that both programmes will run until June 30. Subsidised chicken sets will be distributed among the citizens for the last two times in the next 40 days.

According to the poultry subsidy scheme introduced on the instructions of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, a set consisting of fivep chickens and one rooster was being provided at Rs1,140 to the citizens registered under the programme while the actual price of this set was Rs1,500.

The differential 30% of the amount was subsidised by the government. The project was launched in May 2019.

According to Poultry Research Institute sources, 3.3 million sets of poultry sets have been distributed across the province in the last two and a half years. The purpose of this project was to procure desi eggs at home and earn foreign exchange by selling them. In the same manner, a set of six hens was also provided for breeding for the production of chicken meat. These hens laid 250 eggs a year. Their food was leftovers from home kitchens. Now with the election of Hamza Shahbaz as the Chief Minister of Punjab, the poultry programme has been terminated immediately, confirmed Dr Mehmood.

On the other hand, the Katta Farba programme has also been stopped. Citizens and farmers who had registered for the scheme, called Katta Farba programme, were given subsidy of Rs4,000 per month, which will continue till June 30, and halted from July 1.

According to the Agriculture Department, a total of 50,000 citizens were registered in the Katta Farba programme across Punjab.

Last month, a senior official of the livestock department speaking on condition of anonymity said that the government's interest in the programme had begun to wane four months ago. He said that due to a lack of funds and non-supply of new chickens, requests of more than 0.1 million applications in Rawalpindi alone could not be processed.

The official said that with the end of the PTI government and the appointment of Shahbaz Sharif as the new prime minister, the implementation of the poultry and calf programmes has been practically stopped.

A month ago, the Islamabad capital territory administration’s livestock department distributed around 400 flocks of chickens among deserving people.

A ceremony was held at Tarlai Civil Veterinary Hospital, where people received poultry birds at 30 per cent subsidised rates.

ICT Director Agriculture Waqar Anwar said that the initiative aimed at supplementing family incomes through the sale of organic eggs and chickens besides creating employment opportunities.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2022.