Waiver on agri taxes, loans urged

KARACHI: Sindh government on Monday urged its federal counterpart to announce waiver on agricultural loans and taxes to relieve the farmers whose crops have been destroyed by the devastating rains and flooding.

“Sindh government has declared 20 districts as calamity-hit areas and we will take all measures for rehabilitation of farmers, while provincial agricultural taxes on farmers in those areas will be waived,” said Muhammad Ismail Rahoo, Sindh agriculture minister, in a statement.

Rahoo said due to the wrong policy of the federation, the agricultural sector was already under severe pressure, the skyrocketing prices of fertilisers, pesticides, diesel, electricity and gas have made farming impossible, and as a result the country's farmers were becoming indebted.

He urged the Prime Minister to announce waiver of agricultural loans and taxes to the farmers of the districts affected by the recent rains in Sindh. “The calamity-hit districts have been severely affected by the recent rains,” he said. The provincial minister said rice, sugarcane, and mango orchards have also been severely damaged. “All agricultural loans of the Agricultural Development Bank and other commercial banks should be laid off for 2020,” he stressed.

Rahoo suggested that the old agricultural loans be given a one-year waiver, while new loans need to be released to the farmers without interest and on easy terms.