By Rafiullah Mandokhail,
ZHOB: Livestock and Dairy Development Department has started the ‘Backyard Poultry Production program’ under the Prime Minister’s initiative to enhance the socio-economic status of poor and marginalized families in the district.
“A total of two thousand units of poultry comprising 20,000 pre-vaccinated high laying chickens would be distributed among two thousand women in the district,” said Deputy Director Livestock and Dairy Development Dr. Naseebullah Kakar, while briefing journalists about the newly-initiated programme.
He said the programme was aimed at enabling the poor families to meet their daily needs and improve their economic conditions.
Dr. Naseebullah Kakar said, on the directives of Provincial Minister Livestock and Dairy Development Mitha Khan Kakar, Secretary Livestock Dostain Jamaldini, Director General Dr. Ghulam Hussain Jaffar, Divisional Director Dr. Baha-ul-Haq Mandokhail and Project Director Dr. Kamran Akhter, the programme has been initiated in the bordering district of Balochistan. He said.
“The poultry industry plays a vital role in the domestic economy and it has proved to be a cheap and profitable business, adding the provincial government is striving hard for the development of livestock and puts the sector on modern lines utilizing all the available resources. He added.
Dr. Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Nasar and Dr. Karim Dad Babar, who monitor the programme, said that the programme could prove vital for the poor families especially for those women living in the rural parts of the district. The initiative will support the women folk economically, they hoped.
“The registration process is underway and the distribution at subsidized rates would soon be started. The applicant woman will pay Rs. 2750 along a copy of CNIC to get a unit of poultry that comprises a rooster and nine chickens, they explained.