Matter of survival: ‘Govt must extend wheat subsidy to Gilgit-Baltistan’

LAHORE:

“The issue of wheat subsidy for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan has been left to fester too long. The government must do something about it as soon as possible,” Pakistan Peoples Party Punjab secretary general Tanvir Ashraf Kaira said on Wednesday.

He was commenting on the formation of a committee, led by Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Chaudhry Barjees Tahir, to look into the matter.

Kaira questioned the wisdom of the government’s inaction on the issue. “The minister’s explanation was unfortunate...he passed the blame onto the local administration saying it was a matter between the people of Gilgit-Baltistan and their government.” He said wheat subsidy was a federal subject.

He said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan had held a sit-in in front of the secretariat for many days. The PPP had repeatedly asked the government to accept their demands, but the government had turned a deaf ear on the matter, Kaira said. “So the people continued their protest.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2014.