LAHORE, Nov 11: The farmer bodies on Tuesday welcomed resolve of Food and Agriculture Minister Sikandar Bosan to launch an inquiry into shortage of cotton pesticides.

However, they said, simply launching an inquiry would not serve the purpose, and the government must ensure that responsibility for the shortage was fixed and those found guilty taken to task.

“It has been a national disaster and the culprits should not let go scot-free,” they insisted.

Mushtaq Goraya, the secretary-general of the Kissan Rabita Committee, said in a press statement that all those responsible for this situation should be booked under Article 6 of the constitution, dealing with sedition cases, for damaging the national economy.

Kissan Board Pakistan Secretary-General Ibrahim Mughal said the farmers had been making complaints about mismanagement of pesticides, but to no avail. Now the government was trying to inquire into the matter, but the growers still felt that the inquiry would be of no use without punishing the culprits, the KBP leader said.