LAHORE : The Agricultural Committee headed by Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar has recommended increasing per 40kg price of cotton to Rs 5,000 and providing direct subsidy to cotton farmers.
Chairman CPEC Authority Asim Saleem Bajwa, Minister for Agriculture Syed Hasnain Jahanian Gardezi and others participated in the meeting of the committee held at Governor House here on Saturday.
The meeting chaired discussed the problems faced by cotton farmers and their solutions including providing relief to the farmers. Federal Minister for National Food and Research Syed Fakhr Imam joined the meeting via video link. Addressing the meeting, Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar said that an effective policy and integrated strategy is needed to increase cotton production. He welcomed the decision of the federal government not to import cotton from India and added that to encourage cotton growers, subsidies will be given directly to farmers in a phased manner and at the same time the federal and provincial governments will ensure that strict action will be taken against those responsible for selling substandard medicines to cotton farmers.
Ch Sarwar said that in order to increase the production of cotton, all the stakeholders including those from the textile industry should be on one page for which the efforts have been initiated and we are utilising all resources to address the problems of our farmers. Chairman CPEC Authority Asim Saleem Bajwa said that China is providing research and machinery assistance to increase cotton production and CPEC Authority is keen on facilitating farmers by providing assistance in various sectors. Cotton and textiles account for 8pc of Pakistan's economy and we must all work together to strengthen Pakistan's economy, he added.
Federal Minister for National Food and Research Syed Fakhr Imam said that the previous governments have been constantly neglecting the cotton farmers but the present government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan has stood by the cotton farmers and will continue to facilitate them.
The Federal government will ensure the implementation of steps in accordance with the recommendations put forward by the committee, he added. Afterwards, in a press conference with UK House of Lords member Wajid Khan, the governor said, “I have taken the responsibility of resolving the issue of fee of students of Islamia University Fata. If Federal or Provincial governments will not give funds, I will request cooperation from philanthropists and will even pay from my own pocket.”
Responding to a question, he said that the main challenge for the government is inflation and matters of governance not PDM. In a question about dismissing Hafeez Sheikh, the governor said that the government always taken decisions that are in the best interest of the nation. Regarding travel bans on Pakistan due to Coronavirus, he said the Coronavirus situation is worse in India so travel ban on Pakistan doesn't make any sense adding that the third wave of Coronavirus has come from the UK.
