June 23, 2003	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 22,1424

The government of Punjab has taken some significant decisions for the growth of agriculture in the province and imposing a flat rate of ‘abiana’ is the latest as also the most important as it is aimed at replacing a centuries old system that had become redundant for present day use.

It has been hailed by some quarters but is also being severely criticized by some segments. The protagonists are happy because it should lead to rooting out patwari mafia’s corruption and provide relief to small farmers but owners of large tracts of land are already reportedly pressurising the administration to review the decision that has built in capacity for blocking possibilities of circumventing laws and pocketing what belongs to the exchequer.

The system in position was the one that Raja Todar Mall had introduced during the reign of Moghul emperor Akbar. It served India and later Pakistan well for years but could not remain geared for meeting the needs of a rapidly changing agri-scape and new practices for using water for irrigating crops.

The government has already reduced bank rates for agriculture sector loans, announced an ambitious plan for lining of water channels over the next four years and committed subsidy for tube well users, among other measures. But flat rate for abiana is not just the most important step but also clearly one that should lead to higher generation of revenues and, at the same time, offer less discomforting breathing space to beleaguered small landowners.

According to the decision of the provincial cabinet, the new water rate would be Rs50 per acre for rabi and Rs85 for kharif crops for the same land. Abiana for sugar-cane has been specially reduced from Rs177 per acre to Rs135 and for orchards, it is to be Rs250 per acre instead of the previous rate of Rs280.

The difference between rabi and kharif is linked with crops requiring intensive irrigation and those consuming relatively to considerably less water. However, it is a question why sugar cane has been given extra sympathetic treatment at a time when identifying and implementing ways and means of conserving water have become vital in view of the shrinking resources of the country. One would have thought that the administration would consider measures for water conservation instead of encouraging crops that are heavy on water.

Previous per acre water rates for some of the major crops were Rs15 for fodder, Rs60 for wheat, Rs90 for cotton, and Rs120 for rice and Rs175 for sugar-cane. They were often manipulated by influential farmers who were charged for fodder when they had cultivated a crop from the higher bracket water rate. Patwaris had the final role in such arrangements, of course for a price.

The new scheme for abiana would free farmers of the patwari’s clutches, as they would be governed by flat rate as well as encourage more efficient use of water. Previously farmers who wasted water or used it inefficiently were treated on a par with those who obtained maximum results from their share of water. This inequity should be removed by flat rate.

The institution of patwari is notorious for wheeling dealing. While patwari is an essentially rural official, many city dwellers are aware of the power he wields. The story goes that late Chief Justice Mohammad Munir was once travelling by train and called the patwari of the area to the Montgomery, now Sahiwal, railway station to give him some instructions about his lands in that district.

The patwari came, listened to the judge, promised to do the needful and when he was leaving, asked Justice Munir for the keys of his bungalow in Murree Hills because ‘weather gets very hot in the summer season and the children would be better off at a hill station’. If he could treat CJ like that, what must be his attitude towards lessor mortals.

There however is another aspect to patwari’s. The government of Punjab annually spends about Rs450 million on their salaries; in return they collect abiana amounting to les than Rs10 million. The government thus spends three rupees for every one rupee collected.

However, the government has to look beyond him and ensure that the role of the irrigation bureaucracy is also scuttled. It represents another set of non-productive and fleecing management of the water management system.

While the introduction of flat rate is a positive, indeed dynamic step, it should not be viewed as an end in itself; there are bridges to be crossed for making the farmer’s life less complicated. The collection system is as cumbersome as managing water rates was. It has to be simplified. Farmers should be asked to deposit yearly charges at some nearby bank at the start of a cropping season.

While the new system lowers rates, it promises to increase revenue by about Rs7/8 million. The government has thus killed two birds in one go. But the increased income should not be squandered and must be ploughed back in the agriculture sector and used for strengthening the farming community.

One urgent need of the sector is lining water channels. Funds for the project are being provided by the World Bank on easy terms. If there is a shortfall, the gap should be filled with income from water charges. A greater need is introducing the latest technology in the sector that the small farmers cannot afford.

These technologies are direly needed if yields are to be boosted and water resources preserved. Resourceful landowners are obtaining much higher yields than small farmers because they are using these technologies. For instance, they managed between 35 to 40 maunds of wheat per acre while small farmers who constitute the bulk of the farming sector and wheat growers mostly did not touch 20 maunds.

The Punjab government is likely to come across resistance against its flat rate policy and the argument that many landowners do not cultivate all of their land is already being offered. As politics is the preserve of moneyed classes in Pakistan and feudal elements are members of this elite club, the government would have opponents from within its own supporters.

There is some truth in this point of view and there may be need for accommodating it but the Chief Minister has to ensure that the flat rate is not undone by succumbing to this lobby.