Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
In the aftermath of the budget, farmers say they are feeling “angry, frustrated and helpless.” Of these emotions, they describe helplessness as the most devastating, as it leaves them with little hope and few options.
Against this backdrop, they argue that the budget speech and accompanying documents appear to have all but forgotten a sector that contributes nearly a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), employs around 33 per cent of the workforce, feeds the nation, supplies raw materials to industry and underpins the rural economy.
They point out that there is hardly any mention of agriculture, let alone any meaningful policy direction, planning or allocations. As a result, farmers say they feel abandoned and powerless.
Khalid Khokhar, who heads Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, one of the country’s most active farmers’ organisations, sums up the mood within the farming community: “We had an idea of what was coming when the prime minister convened a meeting of farmers and other stakeholders barely two weeks before the budget — when the entire preparation process had effectively been completed — merely to constitute a committee for proposals.
