HYDERABAD:
Sindh Abadgar Ittehad, an organization working for farmers’ rights, has contested the government’s stance on raising fuel prices as a consequence of the ongoing war against Iran. Led by its leader Nawab Zubair Talpur, Ittehad staged a protest outside the Hyderabad Press Club on Monday demanding a reduction in the price of diesel to Rs250 per litre.
“There is no justification for keeping the price higher than Rs250 a liter other than exploiting the people in the name of tax,” he argued. He claimed that the government earned over Rs 1,200 billion through taxes on petroleum products in the first 10 months of the existing financial year.
He lamented that on one hand the farmers are being forced to buy expensive fuel and on the other hand the government is not checking either overpriced or undervalued crop prices. Referring to the Sindh government’s claim to buy wheat from farmers at a rate of Rs 3,500. per 40 kg, he maintained that so far only a few of the government wheat procurement centers have been opened in the province as growers have been left at the mercy of middlemen.
Ittehad demanded that the government increase the procurement rate of wheat to Rs4,500 per 40 kg and the cotton crop at Rs10,000 per 40 kg. Protesters also called for an end to the irrigation water shortage.
