HYDERABAD, April 27: Lea-ders of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) have demanded that the Pakistan government should keep an eye on NGOs working against Islam and national economy.

Speaking at a news conference in the Hyderabad press club here on Thursday, Maulana Taj Mohammad Nahiyoon, Maulana Azam Jehangiri, Jehania Moazzam Naqvi and others said they were not against NGOs, but were opposed to non-governmental bodies causing harm to the religion and national economy.

They said that in 1986-87, some NGOs had destroyed then they moved to Sindh carpet industry. They created hatred between land-owners and farmers, destroying the agrarian economy of the province, they added.

The MMA leaders claimed that a few NGOs had targeted the kiln industry and were trying to render thousands of workers jobless.

Thousands of workers associated with kiln industry, they said, were unskilled and belonged to rural areas.

They said the kiln industry and its workers were contributing a lot to the development of the country.

The MMA leaders appealed to political parties and social welfare organizations to save the kiln industry of the country from utter destruction and also the livelihood of tens of thousands of workers.

Production of pulses : Production of various Kharif pulses has increased in Sindh, according to final estimates prepared by the Crop Reporting Service Centre of Agriculture Department.

Estimates of various Kharif crops of 2005 were finalised by the sub-committee of the Sindh Agriculture Statistical Coordination Board at a meeting in Karachi.

Sindh agriculture secretary Muhkumul Qadri presided over the meeting.

A spokesman of the directorate of agriculture information said on Wednesday that according to estimates Moong, Mash, Arhar and other Kharif pulses crops registered 38.68 per cent, 37.14 per cent, 29.17 per cent and 22.56 per cent increases, respectively, in 2005 when compared to 2004 yields.

He said that the production of Moong, Mash, Arhar and other Kharif pulses in 2005 was 3,227 ton, 757 ton, 217 ton and 201 ton, respectively.

The meeting was told that rice production was 1720,973 ton in 2005 as against 1,499,656 ton in the preceding year registering 14.76 per cent increase.

Sugarcane production increased from 9,357,375 ton of 2004 to 11,243,421 ton in 2005.

The spokesman said that there was shortfall of 13.19 per cent in cotton production which stood at 2,618,839 bales in 2005 as compared to 3,016,658 bales in 2004.

The production of mango crop went up from 349,587 ton to 352,424 ton, banana from 129,590 to 134,743 ton and guava from 59,279 tons to 60,197, while dates production declined from 318,232 ton to 192,810 ton in 2005.

He said that cultivation of sesame was getting popularity as there was more than 100 per cent increase in area under cultivation and production rose from 642 metric tonne to 1,371 ton in 2005.

Among other main Kharif crops, production of chillies rose from 67,250 to 91,550 ton, vegetables from 68,601 to 69,617 ton, musk melon from 17,411 to 75,066 ton and water melon from 15,976 to 16,239 ton.