Pakistan: Tobacco Farmers Reject Hike in Cess, Term Budget Anti-Poor

Source from:  DAWN.com  06/16/2014

Jamait Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and Swabi Qaumi Mahaz leaders have rejected the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget for fiscal year 2014-15, while Kashtkar Coordination Council (KCC) has announced to stage a protest demonstration in front of the provincial assembly on June 19 against increase in taxes on both Virginia and White Patta tobacco.

In their separate meetings on Sunday, they said that the burden of taxes levied on tobacco would be transferred to the growers. Maulana Attaul Haq Darvaish, district president of JUI-F, said that the ratio of taxes ranging between Rs1,000 and Rs15,000 had been levied on tobacco wholesalers in the budget presented by the provincial finance minister on Saturday.

He said that usually the tobacco entrepreneurs and purchasers passed on the whole load of taxes to the growers and the same would happen again.

Liaquat Yousufzai, general secretary of SQM, said that they had rejected the budget because the entire expenditures of the growers' were linked with the production of tobacco. He said that the budget had no incentives for farmers. It had instead burdened them with increased taxes.

Gul Mast Khan, president of Islahi jirga Swabi, said on the one hand the salary of parliamentarians was increased within minutes by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, on the other taxes were imposed on poor people in the budget.

The KCC leaders said that the tobacco cess had been increased from Rs2.5 to Rs5 per kilogramme. The record shows that the cess fund has not been used by parliamentarians on the welfare of tobacco growers, they said.

The tax on White Patta tobacco was hiked from Rs1.8 per kg to Rs3 per kg while the WP tobacco used widely in naswar across the Pakhtun belt had been taxed at Rs2 per kg in the budget. The KCC leaders rejected these taxes, saying expenditures on the production of the crop had already increased manifold during the last few years and they were not in position to face more financial burden.

They announced to hold a protest demonstration against these taxes in front of the KP Assembly on Thursday. Enditem