Pakistan Kisan Ittehad gives ultimatum to government

LAHORE: The Pakistan Kisan Ittehad has rejected the federal budget 2026-27 and given the government a deadline of 30 June 2026, and warned of nationwide protests if subsidies on fertilizer and diesel are not announced.

In a statement, the chairman of Pakistan Kisan Ittehad, Khalid Hussain Bath, strongly criticised the budget 2026-27, and alleged that the finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb did not even mention farmers or agriculture in his budget speech, which he called “deeply regrettable”.

He said that ignoring agriculture also means ignoring the country’s broader economic development, and that not talking about farmers in the budget speech was highly deplorable.

The chairman Kisan Ittehad, while talking about farmers’ expectations from the budget 2026-27, said that farmers had expected relief in at least five key agricultural inputs, but no support was announced for fertiliser, pesticides, seeds, diesel, or electricity.

He warned that farmers were still committed to supporting national development, but for this, the government should provide facilitation instead of crushing their backbone.

Khalid Hussain Bath further cautioned that if no formal announcement of relief and subsidies was made by 30 June 2026, farmers would launch a countrywide protest movement.

He claimed the current budget had left the sector abandoned, which is totally unacceptable.