HYDERABAD, July 7: The working committee of the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), at a meeting held here on Saturday, deplored the levy of Rs1.5 billion agriculture income tax in the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2002-2003.

The meeting admitted that levy of taxes was inevitable to run the business of the government but, it pointed out, the agriculture sector of the province was already paying huge amount of direct and indirect taxes and it could not bear any more burden, especially under the present conditions.

It noted that farmers would contribute Rs1.1 billion to the provincial exchequer in the shape of general sales tax on the purchase of urea and other chemical fertilizers.

In addition to this, the government will collect Rs0.08 billion in land tax, Rs0.15 billion in road cess and about Rs3.7 billion as tax on refined sugar for which the basic raw material was sugarcane.

The meeting pointed out that there were numerous other taxes as well, such as the GST and surcharge on diesel, electricity, tractors and other farm implements and pesticides. The other indirect taxes were the expenditure on seeds, fertilizer, pesticide, services and bank interest.

Similarly, the agro-based industries, such as sugar mills, flour mills, rice mills, cotton ginning factories and textile mills, also had to pay higher taxes.

The meeting wondered why the agriculture sector, which was the mainstay of the country’s economy, was being burdened with so many taxes.

The SAB was of the opinion that the cost of agricultural inputs in Pakistan was much higher than other countries whereas the prices of crops were comparatively low.

It expressed concern that when Sindh was facing severe water shortage, the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) was being thrust on the province although it had failed in the Nara canal pilot project during the last three years.

The meeting demanded that when no other province had accepted SIDA it should not be thrust on Sindh, where the area under cultivation is less than the other provinces. It demanded that Sida should be abolished.

It regretted that effluent and industrial waste of Punjab and the up country was being disposed of towards Sindh, rendering fertile lands barren there. It demanded that Sindh should be compensated for the damage.

The meeting stressed the need for evolving a comprehensive drainage policy, encompassing present and future drainage assessment and requirement.

In view of the persistent shortage of water in Sindh, the SAB urged the government to declare the whole province a calamity-hit area, write off the agricultural loans and interest and stop the collection of taxes forthwith.

It also called for reduction in water tax and other taxes, commensurate with the shortage of water.