MULTAN, May 1: Punjab Fisheries Minister Sardar Jam Muhammad Hashim Ghalija will open the fish farmers mela on May 3 (tomorrow) at Kabirwala. Fisheries Secretary Muhammad Iqbal and Director-General Dr Muhammad Ayub will also attend the event to be held at Salar Wahan, Khati Chor Mauza, located some 50km from here on Multan-Kabirwala border.

The event, being organized by the fisheries department, would be an important interaction between farmers and experts to share experience for enhanced farm fish production, Multan Fisheries Deputy-Director Tufail Sajjad Qureshi told this agency.

Fish farmers and official sources said that work on finalizing the modalities for soft-term loan scheme was continuing for the last two to three months on the orders of Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.

An official said on condition of anonymity that funds worth around Rs100 million had been made available for advancing loans to fish farmers through the Bank of Punjab on a proposed two per cent markup only.

Meanwhile, farmers said they would apprise the minister of their problems and plead their case that the loan scheme should also cover those farmers who are running farms on rented land. —APP