Growers relieve as Phutti buying resumes on PM's intervention
MULTAN: Growers heaved a sigh of relief days ahead of Eidul Fitr after Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani stepped in to resolve the issue of 3.5 per cent withholding tax prompting the ginners to...
August 25, 2011
Ginners launched their 'stop-phutti-buying' campaign in protest against the procedure for collection of withholding tax on August, 6 and resumed the purchase process from Wednesday with a vote of thanks to the Prime Minister.
However, during the strike, Khanewal-based ginner Rana Saleem admitted that ginners in Khanewal had resumed Phutti buying from Aug 23-24 at Rs 2600-2700 per maund after the government promised to address the issue.
Vice chairman Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA)South zone Nawab Shahzad Khan, while talking to reporters after a general body meeting of PCGA, thanked the prime minister stating that PM Gilani not only heard their problems personally despite his busy schedule but also directed tax authorities to address the issue immediately.
Meanwhile, PPP district president Khalid Hanif Lodhi told the PCGA meeting that the ginners' refusal to buy Phutti had put a tremendous pressure on growers causing them financial problems ahead of Eidul Fitr. He said it was not the ginners' strike that prompted the PM to resolve the issue. He added that the prime minister intervened into the matter because he was personally aware of problems of the area.
He disclosed that some of the ginners took advantage of the strike i.e stoppage of Phutti buying and bought Phutti from growers at a throwaway price for personal gains and thus damaged the stature of PCGA.
Market sources said that the price was Rs 2,500 per maund when the ginners resumed buying Phutti, however, the low quality Phutti was selling from Rs 2000 to Rs 2200. Some observers claimed that commission agents continued to buy Phutti from growers during the strike at a throwaway price while advancing the argument that they would have to bear extra expenses on its storage before selling it to ginners.
However, a ginner from Shujabad Sadaruddin said the priceof Phutti fluctuated on the basis of area-wise domestic factorslike supply and demand and the international market price.
He said that ginning factories in areas where cotton was sown early in Feb 2011 were engaged in buying 1000 maunds of Phutti per day in Mailsi, Vehari, Bahawalnagar, Khanewal,Kabirwala, Mianchannu and some other areas.
He said that actual capacity of a ginning factory was 2500maunds per day and they would start buying Phutti in accordance with their capacity sometime after Sept 15 when the Phutti buying season would be at its peak.
Meanwhile, a growers from Khanewal, Rana Gulzar, said that resumption of Phutti buying was a good sign and the development came at a time when growers were in financial troubles just days ahead of Eid.
