In session: Much ado in Punjab Assembly about farmers’ woes

Govt criticised over ‘ineffective’ agriculture policy

LAHORE:

Lawmakers from the Treasury and Opposition benches were unanimous in their criticism of the government’s failure to address problems faced by farmers in a three-hour-long Provincial Assembly session on Wednesday, but failed to convince the chair to set up a commission in this regard. The low-attendance session also failed to pass two bills on the agenda.

The session was chaired by Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal. Several lawmakers urged the government to provide direct subsidies to farmers and do away with multiple taxes. The government was also urged to ease qualification criteria of subsidies on agriculture equipment.

Syed Waseem Akhtar pointed out problems in the Cash Payment Receipt system and said it could be replaced with cheques. Akhtar also criticised what he called uneven development spending by the government, comparing facilities available in Lahore to those in his Bahawalpur constituency.

The government was also criticised for import of vegetables and fruits from India. Lawmakers said Indian imports created greater challenges for local farmers.

Tariq Bajwa, from the Treasury, said fruits and vegetables worth Rs26 billion were imported from India last year. His comments were followed by anti-government sloganeering from the Opposition benches. Bajwa also spoke out against lawmakers who he had betrayed their constituents and had been presenting a false picture of the status of farmers in the House.

He next criticised the performance of the standing committee on agriculture.

He insisted that the chair establish a commission that should submit its report in two months. The Leader of the Opposition supported the idea, saying all opposition parties in the assembly would second the move.

However, Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani, who was chairing the session at the time, said a ruling would be made in this regard if the need arose.

MPA Amjad Ali Khan, another member from the treasury benches, called for the formation of a special committee, if not a commission, to address problems in policy-making.

“Experts must give their input to help us take our agriculture policy in the right direction,” he said.

Sheikh Alauddin questioned the efficacy of a commission that was not empowered. He also criticised the lawmakers for not coming up with alternative solutions. He also challenged the agriculture minister’s claim that most sugar mills had paid the farmers, saying that some sugar mills in his constituency still owed farmers Rs1 billion.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s lawmakers called for reducing the role of middlemen. Siddique Khan said the Punjab Agricultural Income Tax Act 1997 should be amended to provide relief from income tax to farmers. “Financial burden is not relieved by announcing Kissan Packages that lack supportive policies,” said Nabeela Hakim Ali.

The question hour involving the Health Department was marred by two walkouts to protest answers provided by Parliamentary Secretary Khawaja Imran Nazeer.

Treasury member Mian Tahir said a time frame should be provided to address the shortage of medical facilities at the Faisalabad DHQ hospital. As Nazeer refused to do that, Tahir staged a walkout.

The Opposition, too, staged a walkout during the question hour when an argument between the parliamentary secretary and PTI’s Mian Aslam broke out over shortage of dialysis machines in public hospitals.

The opposition leader said that the Punjab Institute of Cardiology had been operating without senior doctors. He said of the Rs22 billion allocated in the 2015-2016 budget, Rs8 billion had been released for far and Rs3 billion had been spent. “This government’s priority is this Orange Line metro train. Everything else is being ignored,” he said.

Nazeer responded by commenting on medical facilities in hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “This attitude is hypocritical. They [the Opposition] find excuse to criticise the Orange Train project because it bothers them to see the government working for the good of people”.

He said 500 new doctors had been recruited and would soon be appointed where vacancies existed.

The session will continue on Thursday (today). The agriculture minister will conclude the discussion on agriculture. Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the House are also scheduled to be passed along with pending legislation from Wednesday’s session.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2016.