Both opposition and treasury members in the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday demanded establishment of a Punjab Agriculture Commission which was already formed in 2016. The session of the Assembly started 1 hour 50 minutes late under the chair of Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly Dost Muhammad Mazari.
The members of 'champions of farmers rights mainstream political parties' Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League (N) don't even know that the commission which they were demanding was already working and the same was established during the regime of PML-N.
While opening the debate on Food and Agriculture from opposition side Sardar Awais Laghari demanded that the government of new Pakistan should abolish the system issuing permits to sugar mills to save the farmers from the humiliation of sugar mills mafia. He said there is no need of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association because their representatives are present in the assemblies. He admitted that these owners use their influence in all governments. He criticized the government for not reviewing the support price of sugar cane and wheat. He said the agriculture contributes 26% to the GDP of Punjab. He also said South Punjab contributes 60pc of total GDP of agriculture sector of Punjab while 80pc of work force of South Punjab is associated with the agriculture.
Awais criticized the government for not allocating funds for the agriculture sector which is the backbone of the economy. He demanded that the government should formulate an advisory commission on food, agriculture and water which has representation from both treasury and opposition benches.
PPP MPA Makhdoom Usman Mahmood said the government has failed to start crushing season of sugar cane which should be started on November 15. He said the PPP in the past opposed the establishment of South Punjab Secretariat by former PML-N government. He said the PTI government should fulfill its promise of establishing South Punjab province rather than diverting the attention of people by announcing establishment of South Punjab Secretariat. He also said that the PPP will not support any such move.
He demanded that shops and houses of poor people should be regularized in the same way as the Bani Gala residence of Prime Minister Imran Khan was regularized.
PML (N) MPA Malik Ahmad Khan said no government has taken any steps for the welfare of farmers. He also said that his government has given Rs 100 billion subsidy to the farmers but after the expiry of the package farmers were on the roads. He demanded that a strong long-term policy should be formulated for the welfare of farmers. He said there is a need of introducing new seeds to increase our per acre yields.
Punjab Minister for Prosecution Chaudhry Zaheer Uddin said due to the anti-farmers policies of PML-N the farmers of Punjab suffered a lot as their issue of sugarcane payments is yet to be resolved. He suggested that instead of issuing Cane Purchase Receipt (CPR) to farmers, cheques should be issued so that criminal cases could be registered against the millers in case they (cheques) are dishonored.
Minister Live Stock Hussnain Dareshak said that sugarcane is not crop of our region as it needs a lot of water. "It is not a value-added crop like cotton."
Earlier, hot words were exchanged between PML-N MPA Mian Tahir and Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari when during the question hour session the former said that Minister Higher Education Raja Yasir Hamayun does not know about the housing colony in Government College University, Jhang. Tahir warned to move a privilege motion against him for telling a lie on the floor of the House.
Minister Law Raja Basharat said asking question is the right of every member but the Chair can give directions only.
The PTI MPA Saeed Akbar Niwani supported Mian Tahir, saying that asking a question is the right of every member and giving answer is the responsibility of the government.
Schools Education Minister Murad Raas while answering the question said there will be a uniform curriculum policy by 2020 and the government will soon bring a bill in this regard.
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