ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration’s Agriculture Department on Friday distributed around 1,200 poultry birds among deserving women under Prime Minister’s ‘Backyard Poultry’ initiative.

The initiative was aimed at addressing stunted growth in poor households, providing nourishment, supplementing family incomes through sale of organic eggs, besides creating job and making women to participate in poverty alleviation, Director Agriculture Waqar Anwar told mediapersons.

Addressing the ceremony at Tarlai Civil Veterinary Hospital, he said birds were being distributed on 30pc subsidised rates.

The ICT Livestock Department and Livestock and Dairy Development Board are providing training to women to gain maximum benefit from the scheme.

He said the birds were 90 days old, vaccinated and would start laying eggs in a week or two.

Under the initiative, Anwar said, a total of 100,000 poultry birds would be distributed among deserving individuals in four years.

The directorate, he said, had set a target to distribute some 18,000 poultry birds during the current financial year.

He expressed the hope that people would get maximum benefit from the scheme.

The prime minister had announced the National Agriculture Emergency Programme for reformation and rehabilitation of farming community; a number of interventions like construction of water courses, building of farm ponds, wells and subsidy on enhancing wheat productivity were introduced.

‘Backyard Poultry’ is one of the interventions and its target is especially women and rural areas.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2021