Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, expressing indignation on the brutal suicide blasts in Wah Cantonment and D I Khan hospital, has announced compensation of Rs 0.3 million for the family of each person who lost his life and Rs 0.1 million for the wounded. He declared this on a point of order in the National Assembly during question hour on Friday.
Meanwhile, some members demanded of the Prima Minister to announce a uniform package for all those who lost their lives in violent terrorist attacks in different parts of the country, which he agreed to consider. He said that the support price for wheat would be announced prior to the sowing season so that the farmers could earmark large chunk of land for wheat sowing, keeping in view local demand and high price of flour in the country.
The government has allocated Rs 20 billion in Public Sector Development Projects (PSDP) 2008-09 to increase the quantity and quality of agriculture produce especially edible items to ensure food security in the country, Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Nazar Muhammad Gondal said in response to a question. He said that an amount of about Rs 15.4 billion had been spent on agricultural development in 2007-08.
"The Food Ministry is running a mega project 'Crop Maximisation Project -II' under which initially 1020 villages of all the four provinces would be facilitated. Under this program, the farmers of the selected villages would have easy access to inputs for increasing crop productivity", he said.
He told the House that for 2007-08, an amount of Rs 212 billion was disbursed as agricultural loan to facilitate the farming community, while during the current fiscal year, Rs 230 billion were earmarked for the purpose. "For the development of livestock sector in Pakistan, the government has established two companies--'Pakistan Dairy Company' and 'Livestock and Dairy Development Board'--at a cost of Rs 3 billion", he said.
He said that to check inter-mill trade, wheat grinding was being closely watched, while fair price shops have been established to ensure cheaper supply of flour in the market.
The Minister lamented that no incentive had been given to the farmers in the shape of improved seeds during the last three years. "The growth rate in the agriculture sector during the years 2004-05 and 2005-06 was more than the target, however the growth rate of agriculture sector during 2006-07 was 3.7 percent against the target of 4.5 percent", he said.
He added that the reasons for decline in agriculture growth was due to 6.9 percent decrease in cotton production and 4.5 percent decrease in rice production against the production targets. The growth rate of agriculture sector also decreased due to negative growth of forestry sub-sector.