OKARA: Hundreds of farmers from all over Punjab blocked Multan Road at Okara bypass and railway lines on Monday demanding that the chief minister come to Okara to talk to them on agriculture policies. The blockade was in progress by the press time at 12am.

The farmers came to Okara to attend a convention called by Chaudhry Muhammad Anwar’s Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, Pakistan group, in Okara on Monday.

The road blockade was not the part of the convention schedule. As the convention was about to end, Mr Anwar suddenly gave a call for the road blockade.

Earlier, Mr Anwar told the convention they would continue their struggle till the acceptance of their demands.

He said farmers were united to press the government to stop the duty free imports of agri items as per a list issued by the Federal Commerce Ministry on May 2, till July 31, 2014. The notification allows the duty-free import of 53 agri items.

The convention demanded withdrawal of general sales tax (GST) on the inputs of agri-items, including fertilisers, pesticides, diesel, electricity, seeds and tractors.

It demanded that flat rates be introduced on electricity bills of agriculture tubewells. Farmers were already paying agriculture tax on land holdings, so there was no justification for imposing income tax on them.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2014