Promotion of livestock, agriculture helps eradicate poverty: minister

HYDERABAD: Provin-cial Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Engineer Abdul Bari Pitafi has said that real development of the country is possible with the promotion of livestock and agriculture sectors and this will help eradicate poverty from the country.

He said that the Sindh government was striving for the development of livestock and organising three-day livestock expo from March 13 to 15 was an effort in this regard. “I could say without any doubt that this is the largest livestock expo in Pakistan,” he said.

He was addressing at the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected officials of Sindh Para Veterinary Staff Association as the chief guest. The Minister Livestock said that the Sindh has not been given Rs200 billion of its share in NFC Award by the federal government that is why ongoing development schemes of the Sindh government got affected and slowed down, however, the Sindh government is making all possible efforts to provide employment opportunities to the people.

Pitafi informed that legislation was being done for vacancies in the Livestock Department and soon recruitment would be done on merit.

He said that we all have to work together to promote livestock so that people particularly poor people could be benefited and added that officers and staff should perform their duties efficiently and improve their performance for the development of livestock.

Referring to Expo 2021, he said that the aim of the expo was to attract the attention of foreign investors and institutions towards Sindh’s livestock and agriculture so that cattle owners and farmers could have access to the international market.

He said that there are rare livestock breeds in Sindh and Pakistan and people could get the information about them through their exhibition at the expo.

Addressing the occasion, Secretary Livestock Department Ejaz Ahmad Mahesar said that the newly elected officials of Sindh Para Veterinary Staff Association should abide by their oath and perform their duties honestly so that livestock could be further developed. He said that the Livestock Department is not limited to medicines and vaccinations but it is a big industry which will help in stabilising the national economy.

Later, the newly elected officials of Sindh Para Veterinary Staff Association took oath while shields were distributed among the employees on their outstanding performance in the Livestock Department.

Former Chairman Sindh Para Veterinary Staff Association Mumtaz Ahmed Sheikh, Chairman Abdul Ghaffar Soomro, Vice Chairman Sindh Veterinary Doctors Forum Dr Zulfiqar Ali Panhwar, Pakistan Veterinary Medical Association Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and representatives from Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir also attended the ceremony.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021