Jamaat-e-Islami Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for fixing tobacco price at Rs 200 per kg

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Khyber Pakhtunkwa has called for fixing of tobacco price at Rs 200 per kilogram and asked the provincial government to stop economic genocide of tobacco growers in the province. The fixing of tobacco price at Rs 125 per kg is not fair, said JI provincial Naib Ameer, Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, while speaking at a news conference at Peshawar Press Club (PPC), here on Friday.
He further said that tobacco was cash crop of the province, despite the fact the provincial government was least bothered to provide any kind of relief to tobacco growers. Owing to inability of federal and provincial governments, he observed that the tobacco growers have been merciless treated in the province. The tobacco farmers are facing enormous economic hardships in the prevailing situation, he maintained.
He informed that the Khyber Pakhtunkwa province has been producing a high quality Virginia tobacco. Talking about a UN survey report, he said that it had asked the member states to buy Virginia tobacco of Pakistan as Pakistan tobacco is harmless for human health, but the government is creating problems for high revenue generating sector.
JI Naib Ameer said that the federal government has generated Rs 60 billion revenue from tobacco, whereas the provincial government had collected Rs 20 billion per annum. Despite the generating massive revenue from this sector, he said that the government has fixed very low prices of tobacco in the province, which is totally injustice with the growers. He informed that the cost of production of per one kg of tobacco is about Rs 150, but the government is purchasing from growers at Rs 125 per Kg.
The tobacco companies had disallowed to purchase Swati tobacco from growers, which was totally injustice with poor farmers, he maintained. He added that more than 80 percent tobacco had been rejected by the companies in the province, which was tantamount to economic genocide of growers.
He expressed grave concern over the absence of permanent chairman Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), saying that the growing mismanagement and chaos due to indifferent attitude of federal and provincial government with the tobacco farmers. He demanded of the provincial governments to fix Rs 200 per kg tobacco price in the province and called for lifting of ban on purchase of Swati tobacco. He said the JI has strongly supported the protest campaign of Kissan Board Pakistan (KBP) and warned that if the government failed to accept their demands, they would join the protest demonstration with growers in the province.