• Looking for loans, exemptions from the electricity bill for farmers affected by floods
• He says that the prime minister has assured him help for affected people
• India accuses of violating the Indo Treaty by retaining flood data
Kasur: As the floods continue to crowd Punjab and severely impact farmers, the president of the PPP, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, urged federal and provincial governments on Thursday to declare an agricultural emergency in the province.
The PPP leader visited the Talwar Post of flooding in Kasur, on the border with India, met with affected families and then spoke with the media.
According to the statement, Mr. Bhutto-Zardari also phoned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and informed him about the problems facing Punjab farmers.
He told the prime minister that the floods had caused serious damage to the agricultural sector and said that the center must play his role in helping farmers.
According to a reading of the call issued by the PPP, Prime Minister Shehbaz assured Mr. Bhutto-Zardari that the Government would take all possible measures to help Punjab farmers.
The PPP leader also demanded that the electricity invoices of farmers be renounced in the districts affected by disasters, while the reimbursement of agricultural loans must be delayed or discarded.
He also proposed cash transfers to the affected farmers through the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), as was done following the previous floods.
Following the catastrophic floods in 2010 and 2011, the government had associated with international donors to implement cash subsidies programs through Watan and Pakistan card schemes.
His success was finally replicated with the Bisp program, which has since won the international acclamation for its effectiveness in increasing poverty relief efforts.
In Kasur, the president of the PPP heard the complaints of farmers and emphasized that federal and provincial governments should work together to provide relief to affected people.
The PPP will be with the provincial government during the phases of aid and reconstruction, he said, adding that no government can only deal with a calamity of this scale. Speaking in Talwar Post, Mr. Bhutto-Zardari accused India of violating the Indo Water Treaty (IWT) and retaining information related to Pakistan’s floods.
He said that in doing so, India had forgotten basic humanity.
Mr. Bhutto-Zardari praised the main minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, for making efforts to provide relief to people displaced by floods, and emphasized the need to defend the shoulder with farmers.
The president of the PPP also ordered its party workers to actively participate in help activities and assured the affected families that their party would not abandon them.
Mr. Bhutto-Zardari was received by the PPP leader, Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed, during his visit to Kasur. The president of the PPP was accompanied by the governor of Punjab, Sardar Salem Haider, the former president of the National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Hasan Murtaza, Nadeem Afzal Chan and Qamar Zaman Kaira.
Posted in Dawn, September 6, 2025
