Pricing water usage for irrigation purposes stressed

Islamabad: Global Change Impact Studies Centre Executive Director Dr Tariq Banuri has stressed the need of pricing water usage for irrigation purposes because agriculture consumes 90 per cent of the fresh supply in Pakistan.
Dr Banuri was speaking at the 3rd day of 20th Sustainable Development Conference organised by SDPI here Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, Senator Afrasiab Khattak from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that the poverty rate in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) is 73 per cent so if a charter of economy is initiated, equal focus should be on all districts so that future progress can be aligned with the past.
MNA Nafeesa Shah said that the state of privatisation in the charter of economy needs to be monitored and there should be a check if privatisation is a success. She stressed more transparency in CPEC projects.
PPP Senator Syed Naveed Qamar said that the current trade deficit is increasing and the Foreign Exchange Policy needs to be revised. He said privatisation is more a political than an economic decision so it is recommended that privatisation should be done in the first year of elections.
Haroon Sharif from the World Bank called for merging ministries and increasing efficiencies of the departments working under the ministries. He also discussed how decisions should be made in a volatile country like Pakistan.
Senator Shibli Faraz called for revising privatisation model in Pakistan with only 5 per cent of its trade with the region and more focus on flow of foreign exchange. MNA Uzair Khan, said climate change is a reality and we need to aggressively pursue climate change diplomacy to ensure that we do not suffer the consequences of food insecurity, job loss and internal migration.
Agriculture expert, Dr Iqrar Ahmed, said that unpredictable events are occurring due to climate change such as floods, so there is an opportunity for research. He said that drawback of climate change is migration which influences human development every year. Farzana Yaqoob said the entire Himalayan region is facing brunt of climate change and migration is going on in search of better facilities.
Pakistan Workers Party Secretary-General Khursheed Ahmed said that trade regimes in Pakistan do have existing and ratified laws both born from local law bodies and international bodies of law but implementation is the biggest challenge.
Abdul Qadir from FES said laws are not implemented due to lack of will, serving interests of employers and poorly staffed enforcement agencies. Fatima Jinnah Women University Vice-Chancellor Dr Samina Amin Qadir stressed the need to focus on mobility, change in mind-set and provision of funds to improve the educational system.
Shahid Minhas, from SDPI also stressed the need to promote inter-regional equity to promote Higher Education System in South Asia. Abdul Majeed, from International Union for Conservation of Nature stressed the need for an integrated approach to water resource management.
Answering a question, Sohail Chaudhary from Punjab Social Protection Authority said that it has adopted a lifecycle approach to social protection. He said that a programme for disabled persons has already been started to support lowest-income in the Punjab.