No flying the coop for poultry scheme

The Poultry Research Institute Punjab has distributed the last batch of 350 subsidized sets of chickens as part of the “Murgi Paal” (poultry breeding) programme that was launched by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government in the province.

The distribution also marked the end of the poultry as well as two cattle breeding schemes with announcements regarding its termination already made by the caretaker provincial government.

The schemes were launched with great fanfare in 2019.

Under it, the institute distributed two million chickens over the four years.

There were about 1.

5 million applicants, with each applicant provided a set of five hens and one rooster with the government subsiding 30 per cent of the cost.

Initially, the chicken set was priced at Rs1,180 while the price at that time for Rs1,500.

The programme was discontinued when Hamza Shehbaz became chief minister but was resumed after a court ordered resulted in the PTI gaining control of the province till the party’s decision to dissolve the provincial assembly.

The idea behind the scheme was to promote backyard breeding to address food insecurity as well as create employability.

The PTI government had said that it would help women and people in rural areas to gain a semblance of financial independence.