Tobacco growers seek payment of dues

MARDAN: The Kissan Board on Sunday asked the government to take action against the tobacco companies, which according to them, were not paying dues to tobacco growers.

The demand came at a meeting of the Kissan Board Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Tobacco growers from Mardan, Swabi, Malakand and Charsadda attended the meeting that discussed the issues and problems of the farmers.

President of the board Rizwanullah Khan, general secretary Abdul Samad Safi, vice-president Jahanzeb Safi, Khalid Khan, Mukhtiar Khan, Qasim Khan spoke at the meeting.

The participants in the meeting asked the owners of the tobacco companies to pay dues to the growers running into millions. They said that they held meetings with deputy commissioner Mardan, commissioner Mardan, secretary Agriculture, chairman Tobacco Board and owners of companies but to no avail. “The Tobacco Board, the federal and provincial governments are helpless before the companies,” they said. The meeting said the tobacco growers were facing severe economic

difficulties, urging the government to play its role in resolving the issue.

They asked the government to blacklist the companies that did not make timely payments to the farmers. They demanded that the price of tobacco should be fixed at Rs350 per kilogram to improve the economic condition of farmers.

Later, the growers staged a protest against the tobacco companies. Chanting slogans, they demanded the immediate payment of the dues.