Lahore: The Punjab government has announced its decision to lift the ban on the registration of agri-cooperative societies in the province, a news source reported. To this effect, Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar presided over a meeting to review the performance of the Cooperative Department and the Punjab Provincial Cooperation Bank (PPCB) Limited.
Cooperative Minister Mehr Muhammad Aslam Bharwana, Law
Minister Raja Basharat, and other officials concerned were all present at the
occasion.
The CM stated that the provincial government would restore the non-functional agri-cooperative societies but maintain the ban on the registration of cooperative housing societies. He added that in order to strengthen the agri-economy, the authorities concerned would revamp the PPCB.
In response, the officials concerned told CM Buzdar that
there were 29,188 agri-cooperative societies and 258 cooperative housing
societies registered in Punjab. They added that since the government imposed
the ban of the registration of new cooperative societies in 1997. They also
revealed that around 151 PPCB branches were currently working in the province.
