MULTAN - Additional Secretary Livestock and Dairy Development Khalid Awais Ranjha disclosed on Saturday that the Punjab government was going to launch a four-year long joint venture with the Department for International Development (DFID) at a cost of 25 million Euros to impart training to the young citizens and alleviate poverty from the society.
Addressing the participants of South Punjab Livestock and Poultry Convention here at Multan Arts Council, he added that besides imparting training to the youth, they would also be given numerous employment opportunities. He added that the residents of rural areas and dairy farmers would be trained on farmer days, disease prevention medicines and injections through SMS, bolo SMS, tele centre and veterinary assistants. He said that the youth from Bahawalnagar, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur and Lodhran district would be given opportunity to get training under PEOP programme.
He said that livestock sector stood at the top of Punjab Government’s priority list. He disclosed that Punjab Agriculture and Meet Company (PAMC) the Lahore Meet Complex was established with a spending of Rs. 1.25 billion and it had a capacity to process 1000 large and 6000 small animals in hygienic way simultaneously.
He told the participants that a Halal Meet Conference was going to take place in Lahore on January 16-17 with Mian Shahbaz Sharif in the chair during which important decisions would be made for approaching the international market of halal goods. He disclosed that Pakistan had a tiny share of just $ 115 million in the $ 3 trillion halt food market. He said that Pakistan was one of those lucky countries that possessed plenty of opportunities for halal food exports. “We possess an enormous livestock sector as it is the integral part of our rural life. The provincial government is going to establish halal regulatory authority to evolve a proper policy for the uplift of this sector,” he added.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Muhammad Arshad, president of Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council, stressed upon government and private doctors to discharge their professional obligations with honesty. He asked the government to improve the state of affairs in veterinary universities. Dr Zafar Jamil Gull said that the injectable medicines introduced by Veterinary Institute Punjab were very effective and available at cheaper rates. He added that the dairy farmers could boost their milk production and animal’s health to an incredible level through these injections.
DBAM elections held: Polling for the election new office-bearers of District Bar Association Multan (DBAM), for the term 2011-12, was held here on Saturday as counting was underway till filing of this report.
Over 2500 voters used their right to choose their representatives. The polling started at 9:00am and continued till 5:00pm without any interruption. The atmosphere remained peaceful. The election committee established 10 polling booths in the bar hall.
Two candidates namely Sher Zaman Qureshi and Hafiz Allah Ditta Kashif are vying for the president seat while six candidates are in the run for general secretary office. They include Ch Afzal Jutt, Muhammad Waseem Khan, Nasheed Arif Gondal, Shahzeb Khan Afshar, Zakir Naqvi and Aurangzeb Alamgir.