Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht has said that progressive approach is being promoted to enhance agricultural productivity which is vital for food security in the country.
The provincial minister said this while addressing a seminar on development, poverty rate and food security, organised by Government College University, Lahore, on Thursday. He said the use of modern technology and improvement in extension services will ensure an increase in farmers’ revenue. He said the present government made the provincial budget with a different philosophy and inclusive growth instead of the past governments who established infrastructure without considering the judicious use of it.
The minister said that in the budget, the government has allocated Rs86 billion on civil works in 16 most backward tehsils of the province. These funds will resolve the problems of clean drinking water supply, sanitation problems and construction and repair of link roads which will reduce the backwardness at the regional level. The District Development Programme has been selected keeping in view the labour consumption, he said.
He said that main purpose of establishing River Ravi Development Authority is to improve groundwater level and install water treatment plants to provide clean water with additional economic benefits of the project. The minister said that the success of the government was not only the provision of funds but also their efficient use which is the first priority of the present government. The government is trying to lift 5 million families across the poverty line through a comprehensive plan to provide services from birth to education and from education to employment throughout their life cycle.
He invited the seminar participants to read the budget documents and said that the budget was prepared keeping in view development needs of the province alongside poverty reduction and food security. He further said that pulses have been imported for 40 years while now the efforts are being made to meet the nutritional needs of the country with domestic production. He said that during covid-19 lifestyle of the people was changed along with food needs. Further, imbalance in demand and supply created shortage and resulted in food inflation not only in Pakistan but globally. Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Minister for Agriculture Hussain Jahanian Gardezi emphasised the need to increase investment in the agricultural sector to reduce inflation.
He said that agriculture grown 2.7 percent this year while the farmers were paid higher prices of their crops. He said that sustainable development in the production sector was a matter of urgency.
