Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday inaugurated Seed Subsidy Programmeme: Reimbursement of Cost for Wheat Seed by pressing a key of the computer at CM House.
At one click the programmeme transferred Rs8.39 billion to Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which started disbursing an amount of Rs5,000 per acre to the small growers holding agricultural land up to 12 acres. CM Murad Ali Shah, MPA Faryal Talpur, former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh PPP President Nisar Khuhro, Federal Minister Shazia Mari and Advisor to the CM Manzoor Wassan, provincial ministers, MPAs, MNA attended the event.
Earlier, Chairman Bilawal, through a presentation, was told that the 2022 floods had destroyed 3.6 million acres of Kharif crops out of 4.4 million acres. The farmers suffered a loss to the tune of Rs421 billion.
The CM said that the Sindh government, on the directives of the party leadership, planned to support the farmers by enhancing the support price of wheat and agriculture inputs to revive the agriculture sector. Shah said that Rs13.5 billion were required to finance the seed subsidy programme.
“The Sindh government contributed Rs8.39 billion, and the federal government had committed Rs4.7 billion,” he added that due to funding deadlock with the federal government and lack of accurate data on farmers, the initial programme of providing free seed was revisited when the sowing season had commenced. The CM said that the implementation strategy was changed from the provision of free seed to reimbursement of the cost of seed at Rs5,000 per acre.
Shah said that backing out of the federal government from providing their share constrained his government to limit the subsidy to the farmers holding the land up to 12.5 acres in the first phase and 25 acres in the second phase.
CM Advisor on Agriculture Manzoor Wassan, talking about the challenges to implementing the subsidy programme, said there was no accurate data on farmers. He added that a massive number of people across the length and breadth of the province reached out for data collection.
Agriculture Secretary Aijaz Mahesar briefing the chairman said that the World Bank helped them to develop a mobile App. Committees were formed at the tappa level to verify land records. Federal Minister Shazia Marri said that BISP has set up 110 centers at the Taluka level in partnership with Habib Bank Limited to disburse the cash through mobile accounts after biometric verification on site.
Marri said that the provincial government had transferred Rs8.39 billion to BISP, of which Rs4.227 billion would be disbursed in the next 10 days.
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