LAHORE, May 31: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi on Tuesday declared four districts calamity-hit because of the damage to the gram crop there, exempting farmers from the payment of abiana and other agricultural taxes. The districts were Bhakkar, Mianwali, Khushab and Layyah.

The chief minister also deferred recovery of agricultural loans from their farmers.

He also declared that the rate of abiana in these districts had been reduced from Rs85 an acre to Rs55 an acre whereas for the rabi crop it would be from Rs50 to Rs40 an acre.

The chief minister announced these measures during separate meetings with MNAs and MPAs of these districts. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat, Agriculture Marketing Minister Rana Qasim Noon, revenue minister Gul Hameed Rokhri, sports minister Naeemullah Shahani, jails minister Saeed Akbar Nawani and communication minister Chaudhry Zaheeruddin were also present.

The chief minister said the government was taking concrete measures for providing relief to farmers in the province. He directed the board of revenue to immediately assess the loss to the gram crop in the affected areas and provide relief to the farmers there.

He said the government had allocated funds for Thal districts on a priority because of their backwardness. Proper utilization of these funds had been ensured so as to reduce poverty and backwardness there.

He asked the legislators to keep a close contact with people and inform them about the development activities the government is pursuing so that they could properly derive benefit from them.

Pervaiz Elahi said the PML legislators must play an effective role in the party’s membership and re-organization campaign. It was the duty of every assembly member to enrol at least 8,000 new members.

The chief minister asked the party MPAs to ensure their presence during the forthcoming budget session of the assembly so as to fulfil their obligation as people’s representatives.

He directed them to use all means to strengthen the party because it guaranteed solidarity and progress of the country. He asked them to identify development schemes in their respective areas in consultation with the PML workers and office-bearers so as to include people in the development activities in the province.