JI chief slams government’s apathy towards farmers

Demands subsidy on oil and electricity for agriculturists


Our Correspondent March 28, 2018
Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Sirajul Haq.PHOTO: INP

LAHORE: Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Sirajul Haq has called upon the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of the numerous problems being faced by the farmers in order to save agriculture from destruction.

He expressed these views while talking to the media persons after visiting a camp of the growers at the Sharah-e-Quaid-i-Azam, who staged a protest demonstration against what they called “apathy of the rulers” towards their plight.

Sirajul Haq said the farmers produced crops such as sugarcane, rice, cotton and wheat, but the prices of these items were determined by the capitalists who failed to protect growers’ interests.

He said the High Court order for payment of Rs180 per 40 kilogrammes of sugarcane had been thrown into the dustbin by the rulers and the provincial administration. The JI chief demanded farmers’ representation on the committee which decided procurement prices of different crops. “Besides,” he said, “the government should procure the farm products directly from the growers instead of the middleman.”

He also demanded of the government to grant subsidy on the oil and electricity being used by the agriculturists. He also called for constructing of roads linking farms to the market and setting up of Kisan help centres.

The JI chief said water, seeds, and farm machinery were the essential items for agriculture but the farmers in the country were deprived of all the three. “Our rivers and dams are dry as India has constructed dams on these rivers to deprive our country of its due share of water,” he remarked. He also criticised the rulers for keeping mum over the water issue.

The Punjab chief of JI Mian Maqsood Ahmed said so far the growers had fought for their rights within the law. He said the Lahore High Court had accepted the growers’ demand regarding sugarcane price at Rs180 per 40 kilogrammes, but the “sugar mafia” was not complying with that.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2018.

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