Assembly presses cabinet on farm and cylinder costs
In Islamabad on Monday, members of the National Assembly challenged the cabinet over expensive fertiliser and the gap between notified liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) — bottled cooking and heating fuel — rates and what households actually pay. Separate calling-attention notices forced replies from the food security and petroleum portfolios.
On fertiliser, movers including Khurshid Ahmed and colleagues said DAP and urea bills were squeezing growers and that official claims did not match what farmers meet in the market.
Ministers defend fertiliser supply and wheat support
National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain told the House every urea plant was running and credited the petroleum portfolio with keeping gas flowing so output could continue. He linked dearer DAP to Middle East fighting and costlier imported inputs.
He said fertiliser that costs about Rs19,000 in other markets was obtainable locally near Rs17,000, and insisted urea and DAP had stayed flat for roughly two years. Subsidies on fertiliser, wheat and seed, he added, were meant to ease farm cash flow. He also pointed to a newly stated indicative wheat support price of Rs4,500 a maund for the 2027 crop, framed as help for growers, and said the country faced no wheat shortfall.
LPG: notified Rs280 versus market peaks near Rs700
Lawmakers separately attacked weak policing of notified LPG prices. They said cylinders listed officially at Rs280 were changing hands for as much as Rs700 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik cited stretched supply chains, higher demand and interruptions, plus port steps meant to ease availability. JUI-F’s Naeema Kishwar said the official price was not available anywhere and urged tougher state action. She questioned the halt of Iranian supply and alleged cargoes had been shifted toward Afghanistan instead. Malik replied that other import options were under study to blunt spikes tied to regional insecurity.
Speaker limits secretaries; bills and fateha
After MNAs across parties objected to ministers skipping question hour, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq ruled that while he chairs, parliamentary secretaries may answer only for their own ministries. PPP’s Naveed Qamar said secretaries must not speak for the whole cabinet. Rana Tanveer agreed they should stay within their briefs, though he argued the practice fits current rules. JUI-F’s Abdul Ghafoor Haideri welcomed the chair’s line and mocked secretaries who, he said, could barely read prepared notes. Colleague Aliya Kamran raised similar doubts. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar backed relevant secretaries answering, citing rules and a Cabinet decision that ministers would handle their own subjects.
The House cleared six amendment bills on study centres, FBISE, travel agencies, tourist guides, hotels and restaurants, and motion pictures (all 2026). Members also offered fateha for former army chief Gen (retd) Abdul Waheed Kakar, who died in Rawalpindi the same day.
Aasan alfaaz mein
National Assembly mein sarkar se LPG aur khaad ke mehenge daamon ka hisaab maanga gaya. Official LPG rate Rs280 hai lekin KP aur Balochistan mein Rs700 tak sunaya gaya. Wazir kehte hain urea factories chal rahi hain aur subsidy hai, lekin kisan aur ghar wale ab bhi mehengai mehsoos kar rahe hain. Aam logon ke liye matlab yeh hai ke cooking gas aur kheti ka kharcha abhi tension ka sabab baney hue hain.
