LAHORE: Kisan Board Pakistan, farmers wing of the Jamaat-iIslami, has criticised the government for continuously increasing the already higher rates of petroleum products at a time when sowing for paddy and sugarcane is going on in Punjab.

In a statement on Sunday, KBP vice-president Amanullah Chattha said that it`s become very difficult for the paddy and sugarcane growers to run tube-wells for meeting irrigation needs of their crops as diesel prices are on the rise on a daily basis and have already touched Rs380 per litre, and there seemsno end to the price hike.

He feared a significant drop in the per acre yield of paddy, the precious foreign exchange earning crop, as growers were unable to water their crop because of unbearable tube-well running costs.

Chattha said adjusting local petroleum products` rates in accordance with the international market is understandable but why the government was charging over Rs100 per litre as petroleum levy.

He said if the government could not offer subsidy on petroleum products, it should at least refrain from recovering this `jagga` tax (forced tax) in the name of petroleum levy to enable the farmers to get affordable petroleum products.