Pakistan Kissan Ittehad president announces that farmers will not pay taxes on agricultural income
MULTAN: The Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) will start a protest demonstration against the cotton policy and heavy taxes imposed on the farmers.
They will initiate a protest movement against the discriminatory taxes and low rates of cotton yarn and paddy.
PKI President Khalid Mehmood Khokhar said, “The government must provide us subsidies on electricity both for agricultural and domestic use.” He adds that the government should also pay compensation to each and every farmer affected by the recent floods and should assist the farmers in cultivation.
He said that the farmers were facing difficulties but the government is not providing them any assistance. He said: “Our farmers are not in a position to afford costly pesticides and seeds. The government is taking indirect taxes from us on all types of things associated with cultivation, including machinery.”
He said that each cotton farmer was facing almost Rs 30,000 losses per acre, adding that every paddy farmers was facing almost Rs 20,000 losses per acre.
Khokhar demanded that the government fix cotton price at Rs 4,000 per 40kg.
He said the government should write off their electricity arrears. The PKI president urged the Trading Corporation of Pakistan to buy bales at a price of Rs 4,000 per 40kg.
He demanded that the government fix wheat prices at Rs 1,500 and Rs 300 per acre respectively. He announced that the farmers would not pay taxes on their agricultural income. He said that the government was charging indirect taxes from the farmers “on each and everything during cultivation of their land”. He said that the farmers were not in a condition to pay heavy power bills.
President Khokhar said, “We want the government to provide us necessary facilities and relief to improve growth and life standards.”
He said that the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad would stage a sit-in to press the government to accept their demands. He added that the farmers would also burn their cotton in this regard.
He said the government should withdraw all taxes applied on the farmers and their commodities to help them play their role in the country’s economy.
Khokhar said that the middleman was earning a lot of money, but there was no respite for the farmer.
