-The Patron-in-Chief of Mango Growers Co-operative Society Limited and President Mango Growers Association Pakistan, Syed Zahid Hussain Gardezi has said that there is wide gap between perception and realities in the minds of the rulers in understanding progress and development of Pakistan. Progress and development may mean building motorways, hi-tech Metro transportation and even state of art Bahria or DHA residencies but it has no relevance with the ground realities being faced by the country.
He said that a nation having more than half its population living in anguish in rural areas and wedded to agriculture income have little attraction in Metro or bullet trains and are even distraught of Jurassic Park sort of real estate projects which are unaffordable for commoners.
Gardezi said that it is a very sad state of affairs to see the farmers and agrarians agitating on roads for relief in cost of fertilisers, electricity and other essential inputs to help country sustain food security while govt is arrogantly committing to spend huge amount as subsidy to a single route Metro Bus Lahore project, which is stated to benefit few thousand commuters. The new projects of Metro in Rawalpindi and later in Multan will add more burdens of subsidies while more than 110 million farmers committed to thwart hunger and food insecurity are being ignored.
Gardezi said that our valiant Armed Forces and LEF agencies are fighting boldly to rout terrorism patriotically but he said, ignoring poverty and famine is more lethal threat which has roots embedded in the unjust and deprived society aiding these menaces. He said no powerful man made machine can save societies except justice, equality and the will to do. Gardezi stated that with righteous priorities absent, hierarchy is dragging its feet's in cosmetic progress.
Gardezi said that without any agriculture policy or vision, agriculture is only being dominated through and funded through aid programs of various foreign donor agencies, while no benefit for the crying and wailing farmers are being implemented.
He said that subsidising agriculture inputs, provision of facilities for high efficiency irrigation and upgraded waterways and development of rural agriculture centers to inculcate sense of self respect will not only have a positive impact on poverty alleviations but will also discourage hapless migration by disgruntled growers to urban mega cities to create Karachi like situation.
He desired modern low cost housing projects for smaller towns, Rural House Building Finance Corporation and modern health and education centers in smaller towns like Kabirwala, Kot Addu, Mirpurkhas and others which are also prominent agrarian supply centres.
He said there is very little hope that the present budget would be helpful and beneficial to the seventy percent of the agrarian economy merely by eyewash of allowing interest free loans for solar operated Tube-well for land holding less than 12.5 Acres which he said is not an affordable unit. He desired raising this facility to farmers having 25 Acres of land holdings, capping the electricity bill for tube-wells at minimum fixed charges and laying a modern marketing infrastructure in the Country. He even stated that Punjab the most thickly populated Agrarian warehouse has not been provided any benefits in budget in shape of subsidy on inputs.
Comments
Comments are closed.