KARACHI - Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Coordination committee Deputy Convenor Dr Farooq Sattar on Thursday urged the government to impose agriculture income tax and bring all the taxable income under the tax net. He said that Pakistan is passing through the critical situation and urged the government to follow the MQMs budget proposals to bring the country out from the present economical crisis. Addressing the pre-budget proposal press conference at Khursheed Memorial Hall, Sattar said that every type of income should be taxed without any discrimination. It was necessary for sustainable economic development to broaden the base of direct taxes. MQM Deputy Parliamentary Leader in National Assembly Haider Abbas Rizvi, MQM parliamentary leader in Sindh Assembly Sardar Ahmed, MNA Khoaja Sohail Mansoor, MNA Rasheed Godial and Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan also present on the occasion. Speaking about the socio economic reforms, Sattar stressed the need for land reforms and agricultural reforms in the country. He said that micro finance facility should be available to the poor people in order to bring about a change in their economic condition. He highlighted the need for promoting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for giving impetus to business activity. He said that the misuse of the Afghan Transit Trade should stop forthwith. This single step could help generate additional revenue of up to Rs 100 to 200 billion. Speaking about the optimisation of available resources in the country Dr Sattar said that an additional Rs 800 to Rs 1200 billion could be generated through good governance, efficient tax collection, plugging the leakage in tax system, eliminating corruption and widening the tax base. He said that the government should utilise the natural resources of the country to end the dependency on IMF and World Bank. Referring to stimulating new investments, industrialisation and employment generation, he emphasized that the energy crisis prevailing in the country should be addressed on priority basis. The cost of production should be reduced by making available gas, electricity and fuel at reduced rates. He underlined the need for focusing the energy crisis on priority basis in the budget to address the economical and public problems. The MQM leader advised the government to exempt the industrial manufacturing machinery from all kind of taxes to strengthen the economical position of the country and enhance the industrial production. Commenting over the party stance on the imposition of RGST and value added tax, he said that MQM would not allow the government to impose the RGST and Value added tax. He demanded of the government to establish an independent commission to recover the national wealth from those who writ off their loans and looted the national exchequer. He said that it is high time that a common man on street and the salaried class get some relief in the upcoming budget. He said that if the injustices and discrimination in the tax system were removed then there was a possibility to optimize the available resources. He stressed upon the need to improve the law and order situation in the country in order to attract investment. He asserted that peace and tranquillity in Karachi was necessary for the stability of the country. Speaking about incentives to a common man in the budget, he said that the minimum wages should be at Rs 10,000. The salaries of the government employees should also be increased to the extent of the rate of inflation. Dr Sattar called for the creation of National Security Schemes to cover health, education, involuntary unemployment and old age benefits in the light of the vision of a welfare state seen by the founding father of the country Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said that the budgetary allocations for education and health should be increased to at least 5, 5 per cent of the GDP. He said that the prices of POL, gas and electricity should be rationalized according to the financial status of the consumer. He also emphasized upon the need for providing incentives to overseas Pakistanis for smooth and quick transfer for remittances from abroad. Dr Sattar also spoke about important mega projects for different cities of the country. He said that the shortage in water supply in Karachi should be removed by increasing existing water supply from 1200 cusecs (600 MGD) to 2400 cusecs (1200 MGD). The federal government should allocate funds for K - 4 water supply project in Karachi for an additional supply of 100 to 150 MGD. He also called for allocation of funds for mass transit program and Karachi circular railway project. He said that the work on Karachi and Lahore mass transit programs should begin at the earliest. Dr Sattar said block allocations should be made for special development of the backward areas of southern Punjab. Block allocations should also be made for building small dams, projects relating to mineral explorations and flood protections schemes for Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Northern Areas of the country.