MULTAN-The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) and Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) rejected on Saturday imposition of 10 per cent sales tax on cotton, demanding withdrawal the tax forthwith, saying if the tax is not withdrawn the country would fail to achieve the target of 15 million bales.
Addressing a joint news conference here, the PCGA Vice Chairman Muhammad Ashraf Mahaar and PKI president Khalid Mahmood Khokhar said that with the imposition of the tax, the price of cotton would come down by Rs400 per maund. “It will also cause a decline in per acre yield and no other target including the one for exports will be achieved,” they warned. They demanded the government to offer subsidies to the cotton sector like it has offered to the sugar sector. They said that the country is faced with a serious economic crisis and the government would have to accept and implement the recommendations given by the stakeholders.
They said that the tax would directly affect farmers and ruin the agriculture sector. They said that national economy, exports and business were totally dependent on cotton and any ill-advised step like this would shatter national economy. They said that Pakistan lagged far behind India in cotton production during last few years. They added that governments’ negligence, lack of interest, absence of technology and increase in production cost were the major reason behind decline in cotton production.
They pointed out that Pakistan could save precious foreign exchange worth millions of dollars by boosting cotton production and cutting on imported cotton. They warned that the imposition of 10 per cent sales tax on cotton would destroy the farmer.
They further declared that they would strongly oppose sub secretariat at Cotton Research institute. They said that the imposition of sales tax was a national issue and the cotton crop, which was already faced with serious crisis, would go into a further decline after this decision. They warned that the imposition of 10 per cent tax would result into failure in achieving the cotton production target of 15 million bales.
They were of the opinion that the country could not achieve the target of cotton crop without offering facilities to the farmers and ginners. They said that cotton was a national crop and all the bodies like PCGA and PKI would work jointly to increase crop, protect the interests of the farmers and boost national economy.
Meanwhile, the members of All Pakistan Bedseeht and Upholstry Manufacturers Association also staged a demonstration against imposition of sales tax. They warned the government that the tax would completely ruin the industry which was already struggling in view of poor economic conditions. They demanded the government to refrain from imposing new taxes and offer relief to the industry.