Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan inaugurated the launch of Kisan Portal on Friday. The initiative was part of the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal to “help raise the voice of small, voiceless farmers”.
The portal was launched in a ceremony held in Islamabad. Prime Minister Imran Khan, addressed the ceremony and said that the government of Pakistan was helping small farmers because “when you help them, you help all of Pakistan.”
He further added that the Kisan card would allow small farmers to get direct subsidies, and directly receive money for subsidized soil and pesticides as well as in cases of emergencies.
“Small farmers will now have insurance that will enable banks to give them credit, which they did not do in the past,” he said.
PM Imran talked about the hard work put in by the laborers and farmers and acknowledged that they endure all weathers and work despite the increasing number of challenges. He said that aiding farmers will , make the Almighty happy.
PM Khan said, “It is our duty to help them. More than 90% of farmers are small farmers whose voices do not reach us, do not reach those in power or those in cities. Our government has led a tehreek (movement) of insaf (justice).”
The premier said, that it is weak who need justice (Insaaf) the most in our society.
The premier emphasized that it was important to help small farmers as they end up selling their products in the market at lower rates, and contribute more produce as opposed to big farmers who have the ability to store their crops.
According to the premier, the PTI government intends to give farmers full compensation for their product – the money that they can put towards their land, thus increasing crop yield.
“What you are seeing right now is just a small amount of justice, they are only getting paid what they deserve. However, we still have to help them a lot,” he maintained.
PM Imran also emphasized the importance of research including seed development as production cannot be increased without it.
He mentioned countries that invest in research have a higher quality of produce. “We used to have the Faisalabad Agriculture University which produced high-quality research, but as less money was spent on it, the research ended,” he added.
The PM commented on the state of the dairy industry and said that it “pained” him that Pakistan imported dry milk despite having an abundance of cattle.
“It is so easy to increase the yield; we simply have not conducted research or worked hard,” he said.
He discussed the ongoing water problem, saying that the need for water storage was crucial and that no government had previously thought about storing water.
“Dams are being built in the country after 50 years; they will be built in the Sulaiman and Karakoram Mountain ranges. We need to use our minds, employ modern techniques, and increase water reservoirs instead of using techniques that we have been using since Mohenjo-Daro,” he added.
The prime minister further stated that the Sehat card enables every family to have Rs1,000,000 for health insurance and that it will greatly benefit all small farmers.
The premier briefly mentioned that imports have increased by 53% in the last year alone and that the “temporary” pressure on the rupee was because Pakistan imported goods such as wheat, sugar, palm oil, and lentils. “We are trying to produce the things we import,” he said.
PM Imran maintained that we need to help farmers in order to increase food production to cater to the rising population.
As per the PM office, this portal will aid farmers to resolve their issues on a priority basis.
A total of 123 dashboards have been set up at the federal and provincial levels under the ‘Kisan Portal’.
