ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that the government will provide a subsidy of Rs10 billion to the farmers on different agriculture inputs for the Kharif season.
The Lower House of the Parliament resumed its session with Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri in the chair.
Speaking at the floor of the house, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan told the House that efforts are being made to introduce new seeds to increase the agriculture productivity including that of cotton.
He said, “We gave a special relief package of Rs50 billion to the agriculture sector after the break out of Covid-19.” He said that subsidies were given to the farmers on fertilizers, pesticides and seed. He said as a result of these measures, the country witnessed a record wheat production of 27.5 million metric tonnes.
The minister of state said that it is the first time that the investment is being made to address the problems of the farmers. He said a subsidy of Rs10 billion will be given to the farmers for the Kharif season.
Parliamentary Secretary for National Health Services, Nousheen Hamid told the house during the question hour that a programme of Rs313 billion has been prepared to address the issue of malnutrition amongst the children. She said that the Central Development Working Party has already approved the programme.
She said the programme has been prepared on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the target is to eliminate stunting by 2030.
Parliamentary Secretary for Water Resources Saleh Muhammad told the House that the work on Diamer Basha Dam is in full swing. He said the installed electricity generation capacity of this project will be 4500 megawatts. He said the construction of water reservoirs will help address the issue of water shortage.
The House was later adjourned to meet again on Thursday (today) at 11:00am.
