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| 12 April 2005 | Tuesday | 02 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426 |
Poverty reduced, says Musharraf
Substantiating his point, the president referred to several indicators in the economy.
“A record harvest of 15 million cotton bales this year has netted an additional Rs90 billion into rural areas. Similarly, a bumper 22-million tons wheat crop is seeing injection of another Rs50 billion. This has been possible due to enhancement of their support price.
“The benefits of unprecedented growth in these two crops are already visible in villages as more farmers are now buying motorbikes, TV sets, fans, washing machines,” he said.
Concurrently, he said, there had been buoyant growth in the industrial sector in cities, where average labourer and skilled workers earned far more than they used to get in the recent past.
“New factories are coming up like cement factories in Chakwal. The existing industrial units, including textile, automobile, sports, surgical, etc., are producing to their full potential. The increased activity has brought jobs to thousands of people, thus brining down the unemployment level.”
He said the government was conscious of its obligation to minimize the effects of price-hike on low-income segments and added that the prime minister and provincial governments had been asked to keep a check on price-hike and keep the prices at minimum level.
Gen Musharraf observed that price-hike had partly been due to soaring international oil prices and said the government had already absorbed a loss of Rs40 billion to provide subsidy on petroleum products.
He urged the nation to join hands with the government in foiling extremism and maintaining a peaceful environment for the country’s economic development.
“Pakistan faces no external threat but internal challenge in the form of extremism. We have eliminated most of the terrorists. People should stand up against those who incite violence, spread hate material and fan sectarian extremism.”
He asked the masses to reject extremist forces in the forthcoming local bodies elections and bring to the fore moderate leadership that may lead them to progress and prosperity.
The president said the government had undertaken a series of development projects in Balochistan, but a handful of vested interests at a couple of places stirred up trouble as they did not want people to progress and prosper.
He said the government was trying to resolve the Balochistan problem through political channel, but would not allow anybody to inflict damage on national installations.
Pakistan, he said, enjoyed an important status in the region, the Muslim world and the world at large.
He said the OIC panel of eminent persons would meet in Islamabad next month to propose reforms aimed at making the Organization of Islamic Conference a vibrant body, capable of meeting the challenges facing the Muslim world.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and Punjab Chief Minister also spoke on the occasion.—APP
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