CM Sindh pushes hard to accelerate wheat growers' support programme 2025

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday emphasised the need to provide prompt support to farmers and called for faster account activation and fund transfers.

Presiding over a review meeting for the Wheat Growers Support Programme 2025, Murad Ali Shah firmly directed Sindh Bank to speed up verification, account activation, and payment disbursement processes, noting that delays in DAP fertiliser subsidy releases had already caused many farmers to miss important sowing periods.

The meeting at CM House included Agriculture Minister Sardar Muhammad Bux Khan Mahar, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Secretary to CM Abdul Raheem Shaikh, Agriculture Secretary Muhammad Zaman Narejo, Sindh Bank President Anwar Shaikh, and other key officials.

Through the programme, 400,875 farmers across Sindh, each farming 1 to 25 acres, have registered with help from field officers. Of these, 338,192 registrations have been approved, highlighting the programme’s widespread impact.

By late November, account activation and fund transfers were ongoing, with tens of thousands of accounts opened. Sindh Bank was instructed to expedite activations, speed up fund transfers, promptly notify beneficiaries, give regular withdrawal updates, and provide daily data to the Agriculture Department.

To improve efficiency, daily data sharing between banks and the Agriculture Department is now standard.

The Chief Minister also reviewed a real-time monitoring dashboard and reiterated his commitment to personally oversee the programme’s implementation to ensure timely completion.

Murad Ali Shah described the 2025 Sindh Wheat Growers Support Programme as a flagship initiative. He reaffirmed the provincial government’s commitment to helping farmers purchase fertiliser during the critical sowing season.

All officials involved have been urged to stay focused and submit timely progress updates to achieve the programme’s objectives within the set timeframe.