MARDAN: Growers have rejected the decision of the provincial government to impose 50 per cent sales tax on tobacco and termed it sheer injustice with farmers.

President of Anjuman-i-Kashtkaraan Takhbai tehsil Qamar Zaman Khan while talking to Dawn on Friday said that it was tantamount to ‘financial murder’ of growers. He said the farmers community would never tolerate it as they were already going through a financial crisis owing to imposition of various taxes during different times.

He said that non-friendly policy of the federal government was forcing the growers to stop cultivating tobacco.

Qamar Zaman claimed that the tobacco growers had been performing vital role in the development and prosperity of country.

“By imposing Rs380 per kg tax on tobacco, the federal government was collecting Rs170 billion annually from growers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,” he added. He alleged that the provincial government had proved itself as non-friendly towards farmers by increasing sales tax from six per cent to 50 per cent.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2024