SWABI, Jan 20: The Lakson Tobacco Company (PTC) and Pakistan Tobacco Company (LTC) have tactfully created the surplus tobacco bogey and inflicted immense financial losses on the growers for purchasing the crop at cheaper rates.

Official sources in PTC and LTC told Dawn on Monday said that during the last nine years the two major companies had purchased 113.88 million kg surplus tobacco along with their announced quota from the agreement-holders.

While creating the surplus tobacco bogey, the sources said, the companies had exploited the growers’ compulsions and violated the tobacco marketing law, MLO-487, by a very tactful manner.

For the year 1994 the announced quota through the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) was 33.72 kg but they purchased 21.72 million kg surplus tobacco, inflicting over Rs200 million losses over the growers, the sources claimed and added that the flowing year, the companies slashed their quota to 27.19 million kg and again bought 15.46 million kg surplus tobacco.

In 1996, the companies had slightly increased their quota and announced that they would purchase 28.04 million kg but adopting the previous lucrative tactics, they purchased 11.31 million kg surplus tobacco.

After studying the future prospects and decline in the tobacco production, the buyers had changed the strategy and announced major increase in their quota for year 1997 and said that they would purchase 40.29 million kg tobacco but despite that increase they purchased 6.66 million kg surplus tobacco, the sources claimed.

In 1988, the sources said, the announced quota was 49.17 million kg and it was the only beneficial year for the growers as the bulk of their tobacco fell in the line with the requirements of the companies and only 3.38 million kg tobacco had turned surplus.

For year 1999, they further increased the quota to 52.46 million kg but due to bumper tobacco production, the companies had got an opportunity to buy 7.76 million kg surplus tobacco.

Keeping in view the upward trend in the tobacco production, the announced quota for the year 2000 was slashed to 46.82 million kg and that year the companies had inflicted more than Rs 200 million loss on the growers and purchased 18 million surplus tobaccos.

For the year 2001, the tobacco quota was reduced to 34.36 million kg and again they got an opportunity to exploit the growers’ compulsions while purchasing from them 16.64 million kg surplus tobacco at the rock-bottom rates.

The announced quota for the year 2002 was about 45 million kg but the buyers had bought 13 million kg surplus tobacco.

For the current year, the companies had already announced that they had slashed their quota by 36.98 per cent and the tobacco growers should cultivate tobacco according to the requirements of the companies.

Each year, the sources said, the two major companies had been collecting the data of tobacco cultivation areas and through it they knew that how much tobacco would be produced and how much tobacco would deliberately be turned surplus.

Besides, efforts had been made to create disunity among the ranks of the tobacco growers because in case of their unity it may not be possible for companies to exploit them.

The tobacco marketing law, had been violated by the companies and small cigarette manufactures. They knew the tactics and while wooing the affluent peasants the companies had confronted no difficulties in achieving of their designs.