LAHORE   -  Provincial Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani presided over a meeting regarding  progress of Punjab Chief Minister’s Kisan Card at Agriculture House, Lahore, in which time-lines and arrangements regarding the launching ceremony of Kisan Card were reviewed. He said registration of 10 lakh farmers for Kisan Card had been completed and after scrutiny, the Bank of Punjab had registered more than 367,000 farmers confirmed for obtaining Kisan card, while till now more than 170,000 farmers had received Kisan card. The minister was told during the briefing that necessary information regarding card had been displayed at the shops of 2,500 merchants (registered dealers) across Punjab on sign boards. He said that the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was well aware of problems of farmers and was working day and night to solve them. Kirmani ordered to speed up the process of receiving the card by the eligible farmers card applicants. Therefore, he emphasised the need for effective campaigning and door-to-door messaging to achieve the target of delivery of 5 lakh cards. The provincial minister said 136 delivery centres had been established at tehsil level for the provision of Kissan Card and the process of providing card was going on successfully. The minister highlighted that Kisan cards would be operational from October 15 for the purchase of agricultural inputs from registered dealers. He issued orders to take strict action against those dealers creating artificial shortage of fertilisers and  charge more than the government rate. Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, Special Secretary Agriculture Punjab Agha Nabeel, Additional Secretary Agriculture (Admin) Dr. Ijaz Munir, Additional Secretary Agriculture (Planning) Captain (retd) Waqas Rashid, Director General Agricultural Information Punjab Naveed Asmat Kahloon and other officers participated.

Drug-trafficking: Punjab police conducted 84,195 raids this year

During anti-narcotics operations, 84,195 raids were conducted on drug dens across the province, resulting in the arrest of 46,810 accused, involved in the drug trade, and registration of 46,407 cases. A spokesperson said on Wednesday that police teams seized 33,382 kilograms of charas, 791 kilograms of heroin, 1,550 kilograms of opium, 365 kilograms of crystal meth (ice), and over 768,000 liters of liquor from the accused possession. Additionally, 1,245 individuals suffering from drug addiction were admitted to rehabilitation centers for treatment. The spokesperson said that 7,684 raids were conducted in the provincial capital, resulting in the arrest of 7,925 suspects and the registration of 7,684 cases. Police recovered 5,772 kilograms of charas, 245 kilograms of heroin, 296 kilograms of opium, 137 kilograms of crystal meth (ice), and 53,322 liters of liquor from the suspects.