LAHORE: A delegation of Kissan Ittehad comprising representatives of Khokar Group and Chaudhry Anwar Group called on Punjab Chief Minister here on Friday.
Matters pertaining to different issues facing the farmer community were discussed at length during the meeting.
Members of both the groups paid tribute to Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif for taking necessary measures for the benefit of farmers.
Khalid Khokhar, president of Kissan Ittehad (Khokhar Group), said that a lot of problems had been solved by the Punjab government and the subsidy given to fertilizers had tremendously benefited farmers.
Ch Anwar, president of Kissan Ittehad (Anwar Group), said that steps had been taken for improving the economic lot of the farmers by the Punjab government and added that farmers were a companion and a well-wisher of the chief minister. He said thanked former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Muhammad for launching of the historic Kissan Package worth billions of rupees.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had taken revolutionary steps for the development of the agriculture sector. The government had given a subsidy of Rs 14.5 billion on agricultural tube wells; while 175,000 farmers had been given interest-free loans.
He said that rural roads had been constructed and repaired with a cost of Rs 85 billion in different rural areas, thus ensuring tremendous benefits to the rural inhabitants. He said that load shedding had been reduced to a large extent and farmers would get cheap electricity through gas-based power projects.
The Chief Minister said that the Sindh government decreased the price of sugarcane in the past, but he did not lower the price to ensure due benefit to farmers. He said the menace of fake fertilisers and spurious pesticides was eliminated from the province in 1998 and indiscriminate action would be taken against the sale of spurious fertilizers and pesticides.
He said sugar mills would be bound to start crushing season soon and minister for agriculture and the chief secretary would hold dialogue with the sugar mills association in this regard.
He said that a meeting would be arranged between representatives of the farmers and federal minister for water and power. He said that the ban on irrigating vegetables and fruits by sewerage water would be implemented strictly and necessary administrative support would be provided to the provincial agriculture minister.
The Chief Minister directed officials concerned to constitute a high-level committee for the solution of problems of farmers and said that this committee would include provincial ministers Rana Sanaullah, Bilal Yasin, Asif Saeed Manhais, Naeem Akhtar Bhabha, chief secretary and secretaries of departments concerned.
Separately, the chief minister has said the nation salutes the spirit of freedom of hapless Kashmiri people and strongly condemns the brutal occupation of occupied Kashmir by India and brutalities of the Indian army against unarmed Kashmiri people.
In his message on ‘black day’, which was observed on Friday to the mark the 70 years of brutal occupation of the valley, the chief minister said that Indian army could not silence the passion of freedom of the Kashmiri people through continued cruelties and worst violations of human rights.
Published in Daily Times, October 28th 2017.