Category: National

The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed the Agricultural Income Tax Punjab Bill 2024 by a majority vote, irking the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmakers.

The new tax will also be imposed on livestock, while a super tax will be imposed on high-income farmers in 2025.

The Punjab Assembly, which met under the chair of Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, passed the bill. All the amendments presented by the opposition in this regard were rejected, while the ruling coalition party, the PPP, strongly opposed the Agricultural Income Tax Act 2024 Bill.

As the PPP legislators walked out of the house while objecting to the Agricultural Income Tax Bill, the PML-N benches wasted no time to approve it. 

PPP’s Ali Haider Gilani said that the Punjab government didn’t take the bill into confidence and was walking out of the house while rejecting all the amendments of the opposition.

According to the bill, income tax exemption on agricultural land will be abolished, while tax on livestock will also be considered an agricultural tax.

According to the text of the bill, a fine of one per cent of the tax amount will be imposed on the agricultural income tax defaulter for each additional day. A fine of 10,000 may also be imposed on an agricultural tax defaulter with an agricultural income of less than Rs1.2 million.

Similarly, a fine of Rs25,000 will be imposed on an agricultural tax defaulter with an agricultural income of less than Rs40m and a fine of Rs50,000 will be imposed on an agricultural tax defaulter with an agricultural income of more than Rs40m.

The text of the bill further states that a fine of Rs20,000 will be imposed on a farmer with an income of Rs1.2m to Rs40m for not paying tax. The Agricultural Income Tax Act 2024 has also abolished the tax schedule listed in the Agricultural Income Tax Act of 1997.

After the approval of the Agricultural Income Tax Bill, it will be implemented in 2025.

Furthermore, the Punjab Assembly approved the Registration Amendment Bill 2024 and the rules on the authority of the Chief Minister’s Advisor to speak in the House by a majority vote.

Upon completion of the agenda, Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan prorogued the session indefinitely.

Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz has recently shed light on her medical condition, which caused her to go to Geneva. In her own words, she said, “I have an issue of parathyroid; I even had surgery in Geneva last year, in January.” 

She addressed the criticism being levelled against her by the public and the opponents, “I’ve been hearing a lot of people ask whether there’s not a single hospital in Pakistan where this surgery could have been performed. All my treatment was done in Pakistan. However, this parathyroid condition is one that can only be treated in two countries. It is not even available in England – only in Switzerland or America,” she said categorically. 

She also made it a point to dismiss rumours of thyroid cancer: “I have been seeing that certain vlogs have been made about me, and it is being said that I have thyroid cancer. I don’t have cancer.” On this, the crowd started cheering for her, chanting “shame, shame.”

“I did not want to talk about my condition because playing a victim and crying about it is not what I have learnt from my parents.” She went on to add that she doesn’t like talking about her personal life in front of the media but had to say this because “it has been talked about a lot back home.”

The Current reached out to an endocrinologist, who preferred not to be named, to ask which thyroid conditions may require surgery and whether those treatments are available in Pakistan.

The doctor, a senior endocrinologist at a leading hospital in the provincial capital, said that parathyroid issues are very common and easily treatable in Pakistan.

Thyroid and parathyroid are related glands under the skin in the throat and are responsible for producing hormones. 

The pea-sized four small parathyroid glands are actually embedded within the thyroid gland. Its function is to control the metabolism of calcium in the body. 

While tumours can develop in the parathyroid, they are largely benign and are removed if they increase in size or become hyperactive. This condition is called adenoma, and the first line of treatment for that is surgery because it disturbs the calcium levels in the body, which could lead to kidney stones, osteoporosis and other health problems. 

The surgery requires the extraction of both the thyroid and parathyroid glands, which could produce deficiencies in the body but can be fixed by taking tablets for the rest of life. 

The doctor told The Current that such surgeries are complicated but not entirely impossible in Pakistan as there are many specialists present in Karachi’s Agha Khan Hospital, Dow University Hospital and a couple of other institutes. Likewise, there are many in Lahore with some public hospital Endocrinologist Departments having the expertise to do so. 

Doctor Waqas Nawaz on Twitter posted a detailed explainer on the options available in Pakistan related to Maryam Nawaz’s condition with the title, “Medical Facts, Not Political Agendas: The Reality of Parathyroid Disease Treatment in Pakistan”.

Tagging Maryam Nawaz, he stated: ‘It is misleading and inaccurate to claim by Maryam Nawaz  that parathyroid diseases are only treated in the USA and Switzerland.”  

“Parathyroid conditions such as hyperparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidism have treatment options available in many countries around the world, including UK, Pakistan, France, Germany, Australia, India, the UAE,  Qatar and many others.”

In his tweet, he listed out all related diseases like parathyroid adenoma, which requires surgery, and other medications like Cinacalcet, Biphosphonates and Denosumab, which are given in high parathyroid production, are all available in different medical institutes of Pakistan. 

Dr Waqas further elaborated that “In the case of hypoparathyroidism, treatment typically involves calcium and vitamin D supplements, and for severe chronic cases, Teriparatide (a PTH analogue) is available in Pakistan for replacement therapy with the name “Forteo”.”  

However, he also mentioned that he felt the need to write this fact-check to correct the medical inaccuracies, as such disinformation can have serious consequences. 

While the prevalence of parathyroid disease is around one per cent, Dr Nawaz delineated the specialists that have been serving in different hospitals in Pakistan and that such statements create despair in the Pakistani community. 

While it is the patient’s right to seek treatment in any country they choose, being a public figure and a leader comes with an added responsibility. In his concluding remarks, Dr Waqas hoped against hope that Maryam Nawaz “will correct this error and take the necessary steps to correct it because the parathyroid disease affecting thousands of Pakistani patients is equally important, and medical facts are not the  political ballot boxes that could be manipulated for personal agendas.”

Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, while addressing Ulema-e-Mashaikh Convention on November 13, said that “Firewall and blocking of VPNs are necessary steps to save the youth.”

“You have to take all these steps, including blocking apps, VPNs, or installing firewall if you want to save the younger generation,” said the state-affiliated religious scholar.

Authorities in Pakistan have taken dramatic steps to control social media, including thee blockage of X (formerly Twitter). Ironically, the Prime Minister of Pakistan also uses X regularly to share his views, which isn’t possible without the use of VPNs.

In September 2024, the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) clarified that virtual private networks (VPNs) in the country would not be blocked.

As the government decided to ban the social media platform X in February, the use of VPNs by local internet users witnessed a significant increase in 2024.

A report by Top10VPN, an independent VPN review website, stated that the demand for proxy networks increased by 131 per cent on Feb 19, two days after X was blocked.

“Recent news circulating in media about PTA to block VPNs, it is clarified that VPNs are not being blocked in Pakistan,” PTA said in a statement.

“However, PTA is encouraging all IT companies, software houses, freelancers and banks, etc, to register their IPs for using VPNs so that in case of any disruption, the internet services to these entities are not affected.”

Users have also complained about the slowdown of the internet ever since the government undertook trial runs of firewall technology, while information technology minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said during a press conference in August that the “use of VPNs was the reason for the slowdown of internet services across the country.”

However, contrary to the PTA’s earlier clarification, users have reported problems accessing VPNs since last week. ProPakistani reported that their sources confirmed, “unregistered VPNs are being blocked through a firewall and are temporarily blocked for whitelisting.”

After a controversy over blocking virtual private networks (VPNs) and growing public anger in Pakistan, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Wednesday rolled out a streamlined process for legitimate users to register their VPNs.

The PTA held a consultation session on the VPN registration framework yesterday. Representatives from the Ministry of IT & Telecommunication (MoIT&T), the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), and the Pakistan IT Association (P@SHA) attended the session.

 
According to a statement issued by the PTA, the session aimed to foster a secure environment for the IT and e-commerce sectors in Pakistan.

 
“The PTA introduced a streamlined VPN registration process, allowing legitimate users to register their VPNs through a new online platform at ipregistration.pta.gov.pk,” the statement further said.