Farmers’ protest unjustified as demand about power bills has been accepted: Rana

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanullah on Saturday said that the government is taking seriously the legitimate demands of protesting farmers and has accepted their demand regarding deferment of payment of agriculture tubewells electricity bills, therefore, now their protest sit-in is unjustified.

He said that Chairman Kissan Ittehad Pakistan (KIP) has been informed about the overall situation during a meeting. A cabinet committee is working on the plan for reduction in the electricity bill of agriculture tubewells. The committee will meet again on Monday and will discuss all suggestions about electricity bills, he said.

The interior minister also warned that Red Zone is red line. Farmers or any other group are not allowed to stage protest in the Red Zone, he said, adding that action will be taken if any one tried to march toward the Red Zone.

The protest sit-in staged by farmers on Saturday entered its fourth day but deadlock between farmers and government still exits due to which they continued their protest.

The protest rally of a large number of farmers under the umbrella of KIP led by its chairman Khalid Hussain Butt reached the capital city on September 28 after removing the barricades erected by the police to avert their entry to the city. They continued their sit-in at Blue Area on Jinnah Avenue under the Faisal Avenue underpass.

The capital police for the third day blocked entry into Red Zone from NADRA Chowk, Ayub Chowk, Express Chowk as well as blocked some other roads due to which heavy traffic jam was witnessed in the city, and motorists faced problems.

Farmers said that they would not end their protest on verbal assurance of the government regarding their demands and the government should issue directives immediately regarding our demands and also take practical steps.

The protesters demanded of the government to reduce the price of fertilisers including urea and DAP. The protesting farmers have demanded to reduce the power tariff, regretting that the government had raised the electricity to Rs36 per unit. They demanded to provide them electricity at the rate of Rs5.35 per unit. The demonstrators have also demanded subsidies on fertilisers and diesel, while taxes on agricultural machinery and tractors should be abolished.

The protesters urged the government to fix the minimum support price (MSP) at Rs4,000 per 40kg. They also urged the government to decrease the prices of pesticides. They said that government needs to take effective steps to stop the black marking of fertilisers. Farmers said that loans should be provided to them at a low-interest rate.

Till the filing of this report, protesters continued their sit-in. A heavy contingent of police personnel and prison vans were deployed at the protest venue as well as across the city.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022