The government has been accused of partially implementing recently-announced prime minister's relief package for farmers as neither interest rate was reduced nor exemption of duty and taxes on import of machinery was allowed. Members of National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance also questioned the value of package and argued that the government has included even credit which is provided by the banks and the government has nothing to do with it. Nafeesa Shah, member of the committee, stated "this is not Rs 341 billion package but it is a deception as how the government can include credit to the sector provided by the banks".
An official of Finance Ministry also acknowledged during the meeting of the committee that a major chunk of the amount in prime minister's relief package for farmers was either measures announced in the budget or amount of the credit allocated for the sector by the banks. A member of the committee, Saeed Ahmed Khan, Manais and others stated the government does not give any importance to farmers as it has failed implement even the measures announced in the budget.
They stated that SROs' implementation for industry takes place overnight but when it comes to agriculture sector their implementation takes months and years. Parliamentarians stated that there is a need of a comprehensive briefing by all the departments on implementation of package in totality and not only on basis of Rs 5000 per acre.
An official of Ministry of National Food Security and Research stated that the Rs 341 billion package involving various components was announced by the Prime Minister on September 25 2015 to compensate the local farmers against the decline in commodity prices in the international market.
Agriculture sector was in grip of crisis globally due to a sharp decline in commodity prices in the international market which, according to an estimates, fell by 40 per cent as compared to 2011. Secretary MNFSR Seerat Asghar said Rs 341 billon package includes concession in taxes and duties on import of machinery for farming sector, a subsidy on fertiliser as well as cash compensation for rice and cotton crops, a reduction in interest rate by 23 per cent, an increase in loan limit, crops insurance etc. The committee was informed that the amount of agriculture credit has been increased from Rs 515 billion to Rs 516 billion and it would be known only at the end of current fiscal year as to how much of it has been utilised by the farming sector. The committee was informed that changes in the package at this stage were not possible.
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