PM directs AG to move SC on suspension of Kisan Package

ISLAMABAD: After the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision to suspend certain provisions of the Kisan Package, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday directed to move the Supreme Court over the suspension of the package.
The prime minister chaired a high-level meeting at the PM House on issues faced by the agricultural sector, facilitation to farmers and to review the implementation of the Kisan Package and directed the Attorney General (AG) for Pakistan to file a petition in the Supreme Court against the suspension of certain provisions of the package.
Nawaz Sharif was briefed that the demand and prices of Pakistan’s agricultural commodities fell sharply in the international commodity market in the last two years and loss of production was also recorded because of environmental stress. These conditions caused great unrest amongst the farming community and there were demands for the government’s support. He was further told that the Ministry of Planning Development and Reform and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research undertook consultations with the relevant stakeholders and all the provincial governments. Subsequently, under the supervision of the prime minister, a Kisan Package was announced as a relief package for the farming community of Pakistan.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stated that the provisions of the Kisan Package were already a part of the budget speech for 2015-16 and for confirmation his budget speech and the concluding speech of the budget session could be referred to. Moreover, the support measures of Rs5,000 per acre to farmers to the extent of 12.5 acres, 2% reduction in the rate of interest for rice and cotton growers and rise from Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 in Production Index Units (PIU) of agricultural land included in the Kisan Package are genuine demands of farmers and are applicable to the entire country.
Directing the AG to file the petition, the prime minister said that the Kisan Package was for the farmers of the entire nation and was not specific to any region and it was the right of all the country’s farmers. He also said that the farmers community throughout Pakistan was suffering due to non-implementation of the package.
Nawaz Sharif said that the government was working to protect farmers’ rights and was working without any political or regional bias. He also, in principle, approved the establishment of the Agricultural Research Endowment Fund for enhancing research on agriculture to maximise produce.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Attorney General for Pakistan Salman Aslam Butt, Ashtar Ausaf Ali, special assistant to the PM and other senior officers.