ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday presented an Agricultural Emergency Program worth Rs309 billion.
The plan was revealed by PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen and Minister for National Food Security and Research Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan during a press conference in Islamabad.
During the presser, the leaders said that the program will specifically focus on small farmers, announcing that the federal government will give Rs15 to Rs20 billion to Sindh province.
Tareen, an agriculturalist himself, said neither he nor the sugar mills in the country would benefit from the government’s increased tax on sugar in the new budget.
He noted that the “country cannot progress without a developed agricultural sector”. “The previous governments had adopted wrong policies which resulted in increased agricultural cost and decreased revenues”, the sugar baron said.
Tareen also disclosed that the “center will reserve Rs84 billion for the agricultural sector in the next federal budget [2020-2021]”, adding, “different groups have been established for the growth of this sector”. He further said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked to construct high-rise buildings instead of vast structures.
Sultan also slashed former governments for neglecting the agricultural sector and said that timely completion of development projects will surely bring revolution in this sector.
He said that PTI is the only government that actually thinks about the general masses and ready to launch different projects for their relief. Jahangir Tareen has come forward on my request as no one knows about the local agricultural sector better than him, he stated.
