The Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) central Punjab is holding a big protest rally against the government's anti agriculture polices, high electricity tariff, and privatisation of the essential state enterprises on the G.T. road near river Chenab Bridge at 11 am today. The rally will be led by KBP Chief Sardar Zafar Hussein Khan Information secretary Khalid Ranjha, district leader Soofi Muhammad and Chaudhry Muhammad Riaz. Farmers of Sialkot, Gujarat and Gujranwala districts are participating in the rally.
President KBP central Punjab Noor Elahi Tatla said here on Sunday that the government had adopted anti-agriculture policies in case of strategic wheat, cotton, rice, sugarcane in particular and entire agriculture in general. He alleged that the influential owners of the sugar mills belonging to ruling and the opposition parties had not paid billions of rupees to the poor sugarcane growers for their produce. The growers had been running from pillar to the post and approaching the management of the sugar mills, the cane commissioner and the local administration demanding payment of their dues but had failed to get their hard earned money. Their patience is touching the limit, he added.
He said the wheat crop is being harvested but the government has not yet announced the upward support price despite tremendous increase in cost of production over the years. Besides the government has also not fixed the flat rate of electricity for the irrigation tube-wells to give relief to the farmers which is more dangerous than the drone attack on the rural economy.
He said that the rulers had bought the potato vegetables and fruits and other agriculture commodities from the farmers on cheap rates with the help of the administration. They are now exporting these commodities and earning huge profits without passing on any benefit to the growers. He said that the farmers and growers are convinced the government has increased the cost of production of essential food items and commodities by levying general sales on the agriculture in puts.
He said the farming community had been strongly protesting against the government's move to give India status of Most Favourite Nation (MFN) whereas India is an enemy country, which had been hatching conspiracies to stop supply of rivers' water to Pakistan and ruin its agriculture. On the other hand, our rulers were asking the Pakistani growers to compete with the Indian farmers who were provided electricity at extremely cheap prices and subsidies on diesel while in Pakistan farmers were facing long load shedding and expensive agricultural inputs.
Listing demands of the farmers Tatla said that the government should immediately arrange payment to the sugarcane growers by the sugar mills, announce support price of the wheat, reduce tariff of electricity and provide same incentives to the farmers which are given to the Indian farmers by the Indian government to make prices of agriculture commodities competitive before giving MFN status to India.
Source:- brecorder.com
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