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Guests at the Pakistan-India Legislators and Public Officials Dialogue on Sharing of Experiences on Governance and Democracy
October 6; The PILDAT-hosted Pakistan-India Legislators and Public Officials Dialogue on Sharing of Experiences on Governance and Democracy began in Lahore today.
Members of Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, Mr. Mangi Lal Garasiya (Indian National Congress) and Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Mr. Kuljit Singh Nagra (Indian National Congress) from India joined their counterparts from the Provincial Assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkwa in Pakistan to exchange views on subjects of Agriculture and Business and Investment.
Both sides believed exchange of ideas on issues of mutual interest and concern are required for the two countries to resolve common issues faced by citizens of the two countries.
Speaking on the subject of Promotion of Agriculture in India, Professor Jagrup Singh Sekhon, Chairman, Dept. of Political Science, Guru Nanak University, Amritsar, said that Agriculture was a state subject and the role of the central Government in this regard was limited to policy formulation and the provision of finances. He highlighted how the Land Reforms, the Green Revolution and the Mechanization of Farming had greatly helped the Agriculture Sector in India. He spoke of how the production of food grains and their yield had increased from the 1950�s to date, however he did say that the percentage of Agriculture as part of GDP had declined. Some of the challenges that he spoke of were the problems associated with Land Acquisition and Lack of Availability of Food Grains in the Punjab region leading to an increase in poverty and the rising suicide rate. He felt that for the improvement of Agriculture in India there needed to be incentives given to the Agriculture Sector, Reforms made in the Institutions and an Increase in Investment. Some challenges that he pointed out in Punjab were the Lack of Awareness about the Schemes available in the State, the Falling Water Table and the Rising Inputs Costs, however in comparison to this in Rajasthan though there had been a development in the technology used in the Agriculture Sector the lack of skilled personnel in the sector had been a determent for the State.
Sharing the perspectives on Agriculture in Pakistan, Mr. Muhammad Asif Khan, Agricultural Economist, said that the major challenges faced by the Agriculture Sector in Pakistan included a Lax of the Enforcement of Rules, Adulteration and Smuggling of the Food Grain Seeds, Adulteration in Pesticides, High Electricity Tariffs, Corruption, Poor Water Pricing and Land Holding Issues, etc. However, Mr. Khan did say that he felt Pakistan had shown a potential for improvement in the areas of Cohesive National Water & Agriculture Policy, Flood Management, a Reduction in Electricity Tariff and the Construction of Mini Dams to deal with the problem of water shortage. He felt that if information was announced in a timely manner, an increased number of persons could avail of the agriculture equipment subsidies provided to farmers in Pakistan.
In the discussion session, participants raised questions about the disparity in the wages between those given to males as compared to females and more importantly how water disputes between both countries had affected the Sector in Pakistan as well as India. Some members present raised concerns about how India and Pakistan had tried to cater to the growing population of their respective countries by resorting to artificial methods of cultivating crops which had led to the increase in major diseases in both countries. There was a general consensus that both in Pakistan and in India the number of persons willing to join the Agriculture Sector had deteriorated over the years as many wanted to join more profitable professions. Members from the Indian Delegation felt both Pakistan and India needed to come up with better ways to use the rainwater and unanimously agreed upon an increase in the awareness campaigns in both countries.
Speaking on the subject of Investment, Dr. Hafiz A. Pasha, Former Advisor to PM on Finance, said that while on the ease of doing business index, both Pakistan and India nearly ranked similar; with Pakistan at 128 while India at 142, the real difference between the two countries was on the Global Competitiveness Index where India ranked at 71 while Pakistan ranked at 129. He said that due to terrorism and energy deficiency, business and investment in Pakistan had suffered over the years. However, Pakistan had displayed unprecedented political and security consensus on thwarting terrorism through the National Action Plan and was making huge progress through a successful Zarb-e-Azb operation against militants. In the future scenario of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, Pakistan would benefit especially as crippling levels of energy shortage would be over. Dr. Pasha pointed out that despite its risks, Pakistan was also a high-return country, a fact that Pakistan�s Government must use for the advantage of getting foreign investment.
Discussing the scenario of Investment in India, Prof. Hemant Kumar Shah, Head, Department of Economics, H. K. Arts College, Ahmadabad, India, pointed out how Gujarat had shown a great improvement in its economic growth over the years. He spoke about how the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investor�s (FII) investing in Gujarat had increased from the early 1990�s to date. Prof. Shah touched upon how the Gujarat Government had invested a large portion of its funds on the development of the Industrial Sector as compared to the other sectors. According to the statistics provided by him Gujarat had been ranked as one of the most Business Friendly States in India. Some of the developments in Gujarat that he outlined were the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ), the Availability of Water and Electricity and Well Designed and Connected Roads and Railways, which according to him had contributed to Gujarat�s success.
Participants believed that the rising regional inequality had been a major issue in regards to the Business and Investment Sector in both countries. They also spoke of the best practices used in the sector; some examples that were discussed included the adoption of Value Added Tax (VAT) by India and how Pakistan could learn from it.
Parliamentarians joining the Dialogue included Mr. Shehryar Afridi, MNA, PTI and Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan, MNA, PML-N.
Members of the Punjab Assembly who joined the Dialogue included Mr. Amjad Ali Javed, MPA, PML-N, Ms. Najma Begum, MPA, PML-N, Mr. Ali Salman, MPA, IND, Ms. Khadija Umar, MPA, PML, Ms. Shameela Aslam, MPA, PML-N, Ms. Azma Zahid Bukhari, MPA, PML-N, Ms. Tamkeen Akhtar Niazi, MPA, PML-N, Ms. Salma Shaheen Butt, MPA, PML-N, Ms. Rukhsana Kokab, MPA, PML-N, Ms. Fozia Ayub Qureshi, MPA, PML-N, Ms. Saadia Sohail Rana, MPA, PTI, Ms. Surriya Naseem, MPA, PML-N, Engineer Qamar ul Islam Raja, MPA, PML-N, Mr. Irfan Daultana, MPA, PML-N, Dr. Najma Afzal Khan, MPA, PML-N, Ms. Faiza Ahmad Malik, MPA, PPPP, Sardar Vickas Hassan Mokal, MPA, PML, Ms. Nasreen Nawaz, MPA, PML-N and Mr. Muhammad Waheed Gul, MPA, PML-N.
Members invited to join from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly included Mr. Wajeeh uz Zaman, MPA, PML-N and Mr. Mehmood Jan, MPA, PTI.
Other members invited to join the Dialogue included, Dr. Muhammad Afzal, Dean, Faculty of Crop Production Sciences, University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr. Attaullah Khan, Special Secretary/Director IT, Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Mr. Naeem Khalid, D. S. Planning, Agriculture Department, Government of Punjab, Mr. Mahmood Akhtar, Chief, Planning and Evaluation Cell, Agriculture Department, Government of Punjab. Ms. Afshan Imtiaz, Additional Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department, Government of Punjab and Mr. Humayun Mazhar, Secretary, Youth Affairs, Sports, Archeology & Tourism, Government of Punjab.
The concluding session on Tourism will take place on October 7 at 10 am in Lahore.
Following the 2-day Dialogue in Lahore, the Dialogue will be held in Karachi by involving the Provincial Assembly of Sindh and selected members of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan.
While PILDAT has been facilitating structured, theme-oriented India-Pakistan Parliamentarians� Dialogue on bilateral issues since 2011, it envisaged that beyond the countries� capitals and foreign policy issues, conversation must also include experience sharing on good governance on basic public issues. The aim of the dialogue is for Provinces in Pakistan and States in India to mutually benefit from each other on issues of mutual interest and to exercise more effective oversight on their respective Governments to improve governance and service delivery for the citizens of the two countries.
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