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restrictions hurting farmers
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District Coordination Officer (DCO) Chitral has imposed
restriction on marketing of agriculture products outside Chitral
under section 144. The purpose of this restriction is to ensure
the availability of edible item in the local market. The main
items marketed outside Chitral are Potato, Peas, Pear, Apple and
some dry fruits. When the rate of these items is compared with
market o Rawalpindi and Islamabad there is difference of Rs
50-120 per kg.
This decision is not justifiable and it should be treated as
economic assassination of the poor farmers of the area. No
administrator has the right to restrict open trade within the
country, being a citizen of Pakistan it is the fundamental right
of people of Chital to market their products in any part of the
country legally. As far as shortage of edible items is
concerned, it is the responsibility of the district
administration to ensure the availability of such items in the
market without exploiting any segment of the society. The poor
farmers of Chitral are growing agriculture products in their own
farms, purchasing agriculture inputs i.e. seed, pesticides and
fertilizer etc from their own income and paying high prices.
Always they are being exploited by the whole-sellers by making
artificial shortage of such inputs in market during the peak
agriculture season. From sowing to harvesting and marketing, the
poor households are contributing their own efforts. DCO has not
allotted any government owned land to such people for growing
agriculture products, no subsidy on agriculture inputs has been
given by the government, no other facility i.e. loan, technical
support for growing, harvesting and marketing of such products
has been extended by DCO. All such activities have been
completed by the farmers and their family members and in the
last stage when product is ready for sale, DCO has interfered to
decide the selling prices on his own discretion and without
taking the farmer's representatives into confidence. He has no
inherited right on land where products is growing.
It is pertinent to mention here that by controlling the
marketing of few items i.e. potato, peas apple etc, the shortage
of other edible items in Chitral market can not be controlled. A
large quantity of oil/ghee, rice, wheat and other edible items
are being smuggled illegally to Afghanistan via Nawapass and
Torkham boarders, this illegal smuggling has created shortage of
such items in different parts of Khyber Pokhtunkha and Chitral
is one of the most affected district of such illegal smuggling.
How the DCO Chital can control this smuggling to ensure the
availability of edible items in Chitral market. When we are
looking into the situation of Chitral market, from the past many
years few people have captured the market, they are exploiting
more than half a million population of the district by charging
high prices of edible commodities according to their own choice
and district administration has not been able to implement
proper pricing mechanism. The shortage of ghee during the last
two months is the live example of district administration's
failure.
My suggestion to DCO Chitral is that he should revise his
decision and allow the producers to market their products to
down country for getting competitive rates. Another option could
be providing subsidy to the farmers, the price difference
between the down country and Chitral market shall be paid to
farmers from government fund to stop the selling of products
outside Chitral. Without giving this option to farmers such
restriction could be considered the assignation of the farmers.
The people of the area should approach to different human rights
agencies against this decision.
--Sarwarud-Din Karimabad Chitral,
07 Sep 10
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