Imran Crushed Every Sector Especially Agriculture – Marriyum
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) Secretary Information Marriyum Aurangzeb says Imran Khan’s dream of gathering a million people at D-Chowk in his support shows how removed from reality he is, but no matter what he might say or do the no-confidence motion was going to succeed.
Addressing a press conference in Chak Shehzad flanked by agriculturalists Riaz-ul-Haq Jutt and Rao Ajmal, Marriyum said these threats of clogging the way of parliamentarians with mobs before the no-confidence motion in itself was equivalent to creating a setting for a disaster. But all this is immaterial because nothing could save Imran from being ousted from his illegal appointment as Prime Minister. She said the truth remains that PTI did not have the support of the majority of the house which was because of its disastrous policies that destroyed every sector of Pakistan. All the while adding Rs22,000 billion new loans, she told.
She rejected Imran’s claims of doing miracles in agriculture and said that the farmers were screaming for help because of Imran’s crushing policies. The farmer was paying Rs 5.35 perunit of electricity for tube-wells to water the crops but was now paying Rs 17.86 per unit. DAP fertilizer which was Rs 2650 per bag was now Rs 10,000 but not even available at this insane price. Prince of Urea had jumped from Rs 1160 to Rs 2400, she said. Imran not only stopped Kissaan package given by PMLN that launched Pakistan’s agriculture, but in fact reversed it, destroying indigenous agriculture, she added.
Speaking on the occasion Riaz-ul-Haq Jutt said Pakistan’s total need was 30 million tons of wheat every year. In the international market what was being sold at $ 380 per metric ton and
wheat production decreased because the government did not increase the support price accordingly, he maintained. This year 3 percent less wheat was sowed which would create between 3 to 5 million metric tonnes of shortage requiring millions of dollars to import.
He reminded how Pakistan achieved it peak cotton production of 14.5 million bales in 2014-2015 because of the Rs 380 billion package by PMLN government at the time. The production had now dropped to 7.5 million bales which was why Pakistan had to import 5.5 million bales, he added.
Rao Ajmal said the government’s repetitive and crushing tax regime made no sense and was choking the agriculture sector. There was 17 percent tax on procuring cotton crop and then 17 percent additional tax on cotton mills, another 17 percent on threading. In addition to this 17 percent more tax is imposed on making Banaula from cotton and another 17 percent on top of that for cotton oil. Even the cotton seed has a 17 percent tax on it, he said.
He said cotton earns the most foreign exchange but the government was busy subsidizing and facilitating the sugarcane farmers. He said China goves $ 632 per hector subsidy in US it is $ 544 in India $ 126 and in Pakistan it is only $ 27 per hector. He reminded. Subsidy during Nawaz Sharif era was 37.5 percent which was now 2.4 percent which was self explanatory, he said.
