Pakistan: Growers Reject Tobacco Price, Demand Subsidy

Source from:  DAWN Group of Newspapers (pk) 06/29/2012

The growers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have rejected the decision of Pakistan Tobacco Board about fixing the price of tobacco at Rs117 per kilogram. They demanded of the government to fix the price of tobacco at Rs183.4 per kilogram as it was proposed by a committee of ministry of national food security and research. Kashtkar Coordination Council Swabi district chairman Arif Khan told a press conference here on Wednesday that the committee proposed the price of tobacco according to the production cost of the crop. He said that after conducting a detailed survey in the tobacco producing areas of the province, the committee recommended Rs183 per kilogram as support price of tobacco because Rs159.5 was production cost of the crop. A notification was also issued in that regard, he added. "The multi-national tobacco manufacturing companies refused to accept the proposed support price during a meeting at ministry of commerce on 18 June, 2012," Mr Khan said. He urged the federal and provincial governments to implement the recommendation of survey committee to benefit the poor tobacco growers. Flanked by Kashtkar Coordination Council president Mohammad Azam, general secretary Liaquat Yousafzai, joint secretary Nasir Khan and information secretary Khan Mohammad, he said that tobacco was a cash crop of the province. The growers' leader said tobacco generated Rs140 billion revenue annually. He said that the government got Rs17 billion yearly in the shape of taxes, imposed on tobacco. Similarly, he said, the provincial government received a share of Rs60 million of the total revenue from the centre. Mr Khan demanded Rs3 billion subsidy for the tobacco producing districts. He said that the revenue generated through tobacco cess should be utilised on infrastructure development of those districts. "We don't accept the monopoly of multi-national tobacco manufacturing and producing companies. We will not tolerate exploitation and economic genocide of poor tobacco growers," he added. Mr Khan alleged that representatives of multi-national companies and members of tobacco board always fixed price of the crop without consultation and consent of growers. In the previous season, he said, the tobacco board had fixed the price of the crop at Rs117 per kilogram that was also rejected by the farmers. Enditem