ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt on Tuesday to file a petition in the Supreme Court against the suspension of certain provisions of the Kisaan package by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

“The package is for farmers of the entire country and is not specific to any region, and it is the right of the country’s farmers,” the prime minister said.

The farming community throughout the country was suffering because of the non-implementation of the Kisaan package, he said during a meeting on issues faced by the agriculture sector.

Mr Sharif said that the government was working to protect farmers’ rights without any political or regional bias. He approved in principle the setting up of an `agricultural research endowment fund’ for enhancing research to boost farm production.

He said that Kisaan package being meant for farmers of the entire country was their right and the community was suffering because of its non-implementation.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar informed the prime minister that the demand and prices of the country’s agricultural commodities fell sharply in the international market during the past two years and the loss of production was also recorded because of environmental stress. These conditions caused great unrest among the farming community and there were demands for the government’s support. The meeting was informed that the Planning Commission and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research had held consultations with relevant stakeholders and provincial governments. Subsequently, under the supervision of the prime minister, the Kisaan package was announced as a relief for the farming community.

Mr Dar said that provisions of the Kisaan package were part of his budget speech for 2015-16, adding that for confirmation his budget speech and concluding speech of the budget session could be referred to.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2015

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