SWABI, Dec 15: The provincial general secretary of Anjuman-i-Kashtkaran and member of Pakistan Tobacco Board, Ismail Jan Khan, said on Sunday that the slashed quota of tobacco for 2003 by the Pakistan Tobacco Company and Lakson Tobacco Company was neither approved by the tobacco growers’ representatives nor the board because it was not based on facts or actual demand.

“There is a need for government interference as it may not only counter the biased approach of the companies, it would also save thousands of families from starvation. Besides, it would also avert the possible deterioration in law and order and an expected clash between the companies representatives and growers,” he told Dawn.

There was a need for tripartite talks among the companies high ups, the NWFP government and growers representatives and they should agree on a tobacco quota for 2003 based on fact.

The growers representatives, he said, did not agree with the quota for 2003 and due to this reason they refused to approve it but despite all these resistance the companies announced their quota and warned the growers to cultivate tobacco according to their requirements.

The PTB officials and other members, he said, went through the previous record and studied various aspects of tobacco purchased by the major companies and small cigarette manufacturers, which revealed that instead of 37.182 million kilogramme quota for 2003, it should have been 49 million kilogramme. This, he said, was the actual demand and requirements of the companies but they adopted an exploitative policy and victimized the growers.

According to the rules, he said, tobacco quota of the companies for each year should be approved by the PTB and tobacco growers representatives but for 2003 purchasing season the companies had overstepped the board mandate and adopted an independent approach.

The total requirements of the companies for 2003, he said, was 37.182 million kilogramme, while in 2002 the total demand was 45.095 million kilogramme. The total demand of LTC for 2003 is 19 million kg, for PTC it is 7.300 million kilogramme, but its sister company — Father and Sons Company — requirements are 9.500 million kg.

He said the federal government had been collecting Rs21 billion under the head of excise duty and other taxes on cigarettes, but that amount would be slashed to Rs14 billion. He said the government would face Rs7 billion shortfall in 2003 if it failed to convince the companies to revise their quota upward.