Home »Cotton and Textiles » Pakistan » Parliamentarians from cotton growing areas added to PCCC

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  • Sep 23rd, 2017
  • Comments Off on Parliamentarians from cotton growing areas added to PCCC
Minister for Commerce and Textile Pervaiz Malik has expanded Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) by including four parliamentarians from cotton growing areas including Ch. Asad ur-Rehman, Ch Iftikhar Nazir, Sheikh Fayyaz ud-Din and Syed Sajid Mehdi with a view to preparing well thought-out proposals to increase cotton production.

He took this decision at a meeting of PCCC held on Friday. The committee has also finalised steps to motivate D.I. Khan farmers to increase area under cotton cultivation.

The committee was informed that 115 textile units have closed due to bad debts and there is an increase in sugarcane area under cultivation vis-à-vis cotton area. The committee was apprised that Textile Division has also written letters to governments of Punjab and Sindh with respect to increasing cotton production area. The Commerce Minister directed Textile Division to write letters to the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Sindh requesting them to participate in PCCC meetings.

The committee was also informed that Secretary Textile Division held a meeting with Chief Secretary Sindh for allocation of 200 acres of land for seed production. The provincial government has agreed to allocate the required land.

Ministry of Commerce and Textile are also in the process of restructuring of PCCC. For this purpose, Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms, Ministry of Finance and Agriculture Department of Punjab have furnished their comments.

"A tangible proposal must be prepared in consultation with all the stake holders for the restructuring of PCCC and should be presented in the next meeting," the sources quoted the Minister as directing Secretary Textile Division.

The sources said All Pakistan Textile Manufacturers Association (APTMA) opposed collection of cess on cotton through FBR.

Recovery of cess was Rs 529.76 million during 2013-14, which increased to Rs 631.72 million in 2014-15. However, it declined to Rs 626.73 million in 2015-16 and Rs 298 million in 2016-17.

The number of cess payments defaulters stood at 166 from July 2012 to May 2017 with an amount of Rs 627 million, and 39 prior to 2012, with an amount of 246.912 million. This shows the number of total cess payment defaulters is 205 with an amount of Rs 875.5 million. The committee shelved a proposal regarding creation of new positions due to financial crisis. It was informed that the proposal of gratuity for PCCC employees has been rejected by the Ministry of Finance.

On creation of pension fund, the committee was informed that it could not be created due to a weak financial position. The committee also decided to rescind dual charge given to the Cotton Commissioner. According to an official statement, Commerce Minister welcomed the participants and said the present government is highly focused on facilitating the textile sector and that this committee can play a significant role as Pakistan's textiles sector has tremendous potential.

He further said that PCCC needs to have clear goals and work relentlessly and in co-ordination to achieve them in time. The agenda of the meeting consisted of confirmation of the minutes of 84th meeting of PCCC held on December 21, 2016, approval of revised budget 2016-17 and budget estimates of 2017-18, adoption of reports of executive sub-committee and agricultural research sub-committee and restructuring plan of PCCC.

The Minister said that the present government and commerce ministry are committed to supporting and facilitating the textile sector and will take every step to build the confidence of businessmen associated with cotton and textile subsectors.



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