Farmers reject relief package

SUKKUR: Farmers rejected the Prime Minister’s agriculture relief package, saying it will not give any benefit to the common peasant.
The famers, speaking at ‘the 8th Peasants Conference’ in village Sabul Khaskheli in Ghotki district, said the government is reluctant to provide subsidies on inputs and fertiliser and tube well loans.
Peasants from Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the conference, organised by the Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreeq.
They demanded of the government 60 percent subsidies on tractor, seeds and fertilisers.
The speakers said exploitation of the farmers’ community is increasing day by day.
They said mismanagement issues and bad governance, especially in Sindh, ruined the agricultural sector. Farmers’ leaders, including Azra Saeed, Mustafa Balouch and Allo Bheel, said shortage of irrigation water rendered thousands of acres of fertile lands barren.
They said there is no water reservoir policy. At least 70 percent tube wells in Sindh are out of order. The government is doing nothing considerable to tackle water logging and salinity.