Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said here on Friday that the prices of DAP fertilisers will be decreased by Rs 500 per bag and Urea by Rs 145 per bag within the next two or three days. Speaking at a meeting of Senate''s Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, he said that the urea price was increased by Rs 160 per bag following increase in gas prices in September.
"The prices of urea will be decreased by Rs 145 per bag and a notification in this regard will be issued on Saturday, he said. He said that all provincial governments are only making statements for the betterment of agriculture sector, but they have not taken any concrete step, so far, to provide relief to farmers for boosting the agriculture sector.
The committee which met under the chairmanship of Senator Syed Muzzafar Hussain Shah also discussed Kissan package announced by the government. The minister said that price of DAP fertiliser should also be decreased by Rs 500 per bag as announced in Kissan package and said: "Without the support of provincial governments, the implementation of Kissan package is not possible."
He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced Kissan package, providing a subsidy of Rs 20 billion during the current financial year 2015-16 on the basis of 50 per cent provincial share. The MNFS&R held seven consultative meetings with provincial governments and other stakeholders to evolve a transparent mechanism so as to ensure the benefit of the subsidy must go to the legitimate beneficiaries, he added.
The committee also took up the matter pertaining to deteriorating quality of Millat and Ghazi tractors and directed the representatives of manufactures of the vehicles to improve the quality of their tractors. The committee also recommended to the ministry of information technology to include tractors in the list of compulsory items - Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) - to ensure the verification of tractors'' quality according to quoted specification of manufactures. It also recommended setting up of a laboratory by the PSQCA and Organisation for Social and Economic Development (OESD) for checking tractors'' quality.
Zarai Taraqiati Bank''s (ZTBL) president Syed Talat Mehmmod informed the committee that the bank has appointed 737 people in Kissan Support Services Private Limited (KSSL) in the last two years. However, the committee''s chairman Muzafar Hussain Shah termed the details provided by ZTBL vis-à-vis appointments in the KSSL incomplete and directed him to submit a detailed report in the next meeting.
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