Islamabad – The National Assembly Special Committee on Agricultural Products in its first meeting on Wednesday unanimously elected the Speaker National Assembly Asad Qasier as its Chairman.
The Special Committee vowed to promote policy coherence and coordination at all levels of government to revitalize Agriculture in the Country.
The former Speaker National Assembly and current Chairman of Special Committee on Kashmir Syed Fakhar Imam proposed the name of Speaker Asad Qaiser as chairman of the Committee which was unanimously seconded by all members of the committee.
Besides Asad Qaiser the Committee also included two former speakers Syed. Fakhar Imam and Dr Fehmida Mirza and representation of all the provinces, leading parliamentary parties, and women.
Farmers should not be left behind in Pakistan’s quest for economic development
The Speaker thanked the Members of the Committee for expressing their trust in him and vowed to assign substantive meanings to Pakistan’s quest for agricultural prosperity. He outlined that the Committee will make comprehensive efforts to forge a vibrant coordination and cooperation mechanism between the provinces and federation to boost the nation’s agricultural capacity.
He added that “Parliament will provide all the support to federal and provincial governments in order to realize the country’s potential in the sector. He remarked that the Special Committee seeks to forge a strategic dialogue on synergies between all the stakeholders including provinces, research institutions, academia, private sector, ministry of commerce and finance respectively.
Qaiser stated that “Our farmers should not be left behind in Pakistan’s quest for economic development. The prosperity of the farmers is the foundation of a prosperous Pakistan. The Committee should particularly focus on the problems of the small farmers by improving their access to market information, services, finances and enhancing their collective bargaining power”.
He added that the Special Committee seeks a renewed focus on helping the farmers to adopt sustainable practices and technological support to enhance their output. Mr. Asad Qaiser reiterated that “Our efforts are in line with the Prime Ministers’ declared National Agricultural Emergency Program”.
The Members of the Committee termed the decision to form a Special Committee on Agricultural Products a ‘historic decision’ and expressed that it was the first time that a high level committee has been formulated to address genuine concerns of the farmers.
The members remarked that the Honorable Speaker has rendered a great service to the nation by constituting a special committee to address the problems that hampers Pakistan’s agricultural development. Mr.Asad Qaiser also constituted a working group headed by Syed Fakhar Imam to draft the Terms of the Reference of the Committee.