LARKANA: “Sindh is reliant on agriculture but the sector currently faces serious challenges,” Irfan Jatoi, Larkana chapter president of the Sindh Abadgar Board, said here on Friday. He said last year Sindh government did not pay proper rates of paddy and sugarcane due to which growers were still suffering. “Wheat crop is being harvested now but the provincial food department has failed to distribute gunny bags which its food minister promised to be given to the tillers from April 1.” Jatoi said Nisar Ahmed Khuhro had announced to give 14 million bardano (gunny bags) to the growers of Sindh, out of which 2.3 million were to be distributed in Larkana division and 550,000 for Larkana district, but not a single bag has yet been handed over to the farmers. He said if gunny bags were not given to the farmers then they will undergo a loss of Rs250 per bag which they could not afford to bear. He alleged that few days back he called upon the district food controller, Larkana, Aftab Unar, and requested him to start releasing bags but he kept on avoiding the request without stating any reasons for that. Jatoi added that finally Unar conceded that he could not release bags due to political involvement and influence. He said he later called upon the deputy commissioner who also failed to solve the issue. Jatoi complained that political involvement in distribution of bags will ruin the agriculturists, and claimed that he was told by the DFC that 165,000 bags were to be given to a political personality in Bakrani and to the PPP district president Abdul Fatah Bhutto. Jatoi further said that all the tillers of Larkana division were upset over the issue and they feared suffering huge losses. He alleged that even traders were given bags but farmers were being denied. He said recently an agreement had been signed between the Sindh government and Afghanistan under which 100,000 bags will be exported to Afghanistan from Larkana and a subsidy of Rs 1,000 would be given. At such a time, he said, Sindh government was reducing the amount of subsidy of domestic growers which was blatant injustice, he added. He demanded that the Sindh government and provincial food minister Nisar Khuhro should order immediate distribution of bags under the supervision of a civil judge to eliminate political involvement and ensure transparency. He said if their just demands were not accepted they will be forced to hold a protest against the DFC. Published in Daily Times, April 15th 2018.