The PPP brought out a big tractor trolley march in Larkana showing that the farmers were not as contented as the PTI government would have people believe. As the event took place in the PPP’s heartland and the procession was led by the Sindh CM, it was widely understood that the march was bound to be a big affair. However a considerable procession in Okara with peasants in tractors and trollies protesting against the government’s agricultural policies came as a surprise to many. The processions by the rural community underlined the hollowness of the government’s claims of having devised peasant-friendly policies.
Promises were made by the federal government while presenting the FY 2021-22 budget to pay special attention to the agricultural sector. There was a belated realization that the exorbitant difference between farm prices and market prices needed to be reduced. For this commodity warehouses and cold storages were to be built and farm-to-market roads constructed to reduce the role of the middleman and help the peasant get the fruits of his labour and investment. Little headway was made in the direction after the passage of the budget.
In October 2021 Prime Minister Imran Khan introduced the Kisan Card which was supposed to act as a magic wand to ‘transform’ Pakistan. With the card the farmers could get fertilizer and seed on concessional prices. They could use the ‘Kisan Card’ on ATM machines to get instant cash. Due to the incompetence which has become the PTI government’s hallmark, Pakistan is short of fertilizer when the peasants need it most. The reason: most of the urea has been smuggled due to lack of vigilance on the part of the government. Instead of being available on concessional prices it is being sold in black market where the Kisan Card is not accepted. Fertiliser shortage, snd oil and power prices and costly inputs seem to have canceled the benefits provided by the government.
PPP’s tractor trolley marches were a warm-up exercise before its march on Islamabad, scheduled for February 27. This will be followed by the PDM’s march. The second phase of LB polls in KP and the Punjab LB polls will take place soon after. The PTI’s agricultural policy paid no dividends in the first phase of the KP L elections. Will it be any different in coming KP and Punjab LG elections?
