Whirlwind visits: Nawaz unveils Rs2.5b package for Lodhran

Distributes cheques among farmers; education projects promised

LODHRAN/ BAHAWALPUR:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday unveiled a Rs2.5 billion development package for Punjab’s Lodhran district as he distributed cheques among farmers under the multi-billion Kissan Relief Package, announced in September this year.

Addressing the cheque distribution ceremony, Prime Minister Nawaz also announced construction of two flyovers, a commerce college and an agriculture university in the area. He said a motorway will also be constructed through Lodhran that will connect the city to Karachi and Lahore.

He also announced a ‘cheap and cost effective’ scheme of solar tube-wells for the farmers.

He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government was aware of the difficulties being faced by the farmers in growing crops for food and export. “Therefore, the government decided to announce the Rs341 billion Kissan package,” he said, pointing out that no government has ever announced such a huge package for the farmers in the history of Pakistan.

The package includes grants, loans, subsidies and cash support of Rs5,000 as immediate relief for growers of cotton and rice, who own less than 12.5 acres of land. The government will also provide markup loans and interest free loans to the farmers as part of the package.

Making an oblique reference to the rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which approached the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to stop implementation of the package till after completion of local government (LG)  elections in Sindh and Punjab, the premier said. “You all know who tried to impede the swift implementation of historic Kissan package.”

The PTI smelled a rat, however, calling it an unbridled attempt to entice voters before the LG polls.

The ECP  later accepted the PTI’s objection and stopped implementation of the package. The government challenged the ECP’s order in the Islamabad High Court which on October 15 resumed the package.

Nawaz Sharif said his government wanted to implement Kissan Relief Package within a week, but ‘few people’ wanted to create hurdles in its attempt to support farmers. “Those, who tried to increase their rating by standing on containers, have met their fate in the LG polls,” he said, in another indirect reference to Imran Khan’s PTI.

The prime minister thanked the people of Lodhran for expressing their love for the PML-N by voting for the party again and again. He said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had great regard for the love of people and would pay off in the same way.

The prime minister said the year 2016 will be a little more challenging for electricity but the government will eliminate power outages by the end of 2017. Prime Minister said that government has planned to launch further development projects for farmers in the coming years.

PM Nawaz said the government will lower the turnover tax to rice millers as reparation during 2015-16 to minimise their losses. Similarly, there would be a tax holiday on income tax for the cold chain industry trading in agricultural products, fruits, vegetables and fish, he added

Speaking with reference to the fight against terror, he said the country was facing huge challenges particularly when the PML-N came to power in July 2013, “But the government has taken up the issue dauntlessly and addressed it,” he said, adding that he would not rest until the elimination of terrorism from the soil.

Kissan disbursement centre opens

The prime minister also inaugurated a Kissan Disbursement/Service Centre to facilitate beneficiary farmers of the Kissan Package at Sambrial in Sialkot.

Gujranwala Commissioner Shumail Ahmad Khawaja briefed the prime minister about the working of the service centre. Under the prime minister’s Kissan package, some 9,965 small farmers of Gujranwala Division will be given total Rs579.8 million financial assistance.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2015.