Agri Forum Pakistan Chairman, Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal has alleged that the government has levied Sales Tax through electricity bills for agricultural tube wells, which will put a financial burden of rupees six on the growers of Pakistan. Mughal severely criticised bureaucrats for taking such a decision and said such people who are oblivious of ground realities making life hard for the growers. He alleged that such decisions would ruin the agriculture.
In a statement issued here Friday, he stated that there are around 175,000 agricultural tube wells in the country and the government has imposed sales tax in their electricity bills from the current month. He termed this imposition of GST is an 'Eid Gift' for the growers from the Federal government on the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul Fitr.
He observed that farmers are already under a tremendous financial burden by paying more than twice the prices of fertilisers this year as compared to last year and selling their cotton produce at half of the rates as compared to last season. Imposition of GST on agricultural tube wells has added salt to their wounds, he remarked. He claimed that on average farmers would pay Rs 40,000 to 50,000 per month more during a year on each agricultural tube wells. This would ruin the small growers financially, he added.
He said that world over, governments are extending financial incentives to their growers for increasing their production to avert any food crisis, while in Pakistan, government is levying new taxes and financial burdens on this sector on each passing day. The imposition of tax would increase prices and inflation, he added. Agri Forum Chairman urged the Prime Minister to immediately withdraw the GST to strengthen the agricultural sector, which has already become a deficit business for the farmers.
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