LAHORE: PML-Q leader Pervaiz Elahi has termed the federal budget anti-people, saying the PML-N government is hurting the poor, farmers, workers and traders instead of providing them with relief.

In a statement issued on Friday, he said the increase announced in salaries and pensions of the public servants was very low as compared to the price hike.

On the agriculture policy and budget of the government, he said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar should stop pleasing Indian farmers.

Nawaz has only one motto, “Modi friendship,” and that’s why import of Indian tomatoes, potatoes and other food items was being promoted to the disadvantage of the local farmers, he stated.

He said the kisan packages announced for farmers were an eyewash as the farming community was tortured in Islamabad while it was demanding cheap farm inputs when the budget was being presented in the parliament.

JI: Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq also expressed his disappointment at the budget, saying the government had failed to provide any relief to the masses who were expecting a substantial relief. He said the budget deficit had reached a new height, there were no remedial measures in the sectors of education and health; burning issues like unemployment had been ignored and the policy to control foreign loans and their repayment was missing.

He deplored the government which had been giving the masses assurances to break the begging bowl had secured record loans. Though the prices of fertilizers would come down, other aspects of agriculture like farm inputs, pesticides and machinery had been ignored, he added.

JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch termed the budget as anti-people and rejected it altogether. He demanded a raise in the wages, salaries and pensions in proportion to the increase in inflation.

He said the new taxes, deficit and fresh loans would result in a flood of price hike and the poor would be further crushed. The crises of energy and water would continue affecting agriculture and industry and the gap between the imports and exports would further increase, Baloch predicted.

AWP: The Awami Workers Party also rejected the meagre increase in the minimum wages for the working class.

“Raising the minimum wage from Rs14,000 to Rs15,000 does not correspond to the growing wave of price hike,” AWP spokesperson Farooq Tariq said in a press statement.

He demanded a minimum wage of Rs28,000 and 50pc wage increase for all public and private employees. He said the plan for proposed income through privatisation could not be materialise in practice as the working class would oppose privatisation and would not let it happen.

PAT: Reacting to the budget, Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri called it a case of turning ‘begging bowl into a cauldron’.

In a statement, he said the finance minister had a reputation of building castles in the air and all the figures projected by him needed cross-verification.

Mr Qadri questioned the government’s claim of economic stability when there was an increase of over Rs6,000bn in foreign loans and unemployment, reduction in direct foreign investment, exports and health and education facilities.

He said the government doesn’t provide relief to farmers under pressure from global financial institutions and corruption was going on in the name of ending loadshedding. He deplored that the money meant for education and health sectors was being spent on building motorways and roads.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2017