- A wheat scam worth Rs 300 crores came to light in Pakistan
- Big loss to Pakistani farmers due to scam
- A National Food Security Committee was also formed
A wheat import scam has come to light in grain-starved Pakistan. Due to this scam, the government exchequer has lost more than 300 billion rupees. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is surrounded from all sides after the scandal was revealed. In such a situation, he has announced that his government will make public everything about those responsible for the wheat import scam. “We will put everything before the country,” PM Shehbaz said during a meeting with Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, the bureaucrat leading the probe into the matter.
States are not buying wheat due to surplus
Directing Afzal to fix responsibility and inform those responsible for the scam, the Prime Minister directed the Cabinet Secretary to prepare recommendations with available records and documents and submit the final report by Monday (tomorrow). The prime minister’s comments come as the federal government is in trouble after the Balochistan and Punjab governments were unable to procure wheat from farmers due to excess stocks, which have been responsible for the crop’s over-importation so far.
Big loss to Pakistani farmers
Due to non-purchase of wheat by the provincial governments, wheat is being sold below the government rate which is a serious concern for the farmers. However, a day earlier, former caretaker prime minister Anwarul Haq Kakar, speaking during an interview, denied his role in the current crisis, asserting that “it is not the prime minister’s job to monitor wheat production.” Commenting on the decision to import wheat, he said only 3.4 million metric tonnes of the said crop was imported while the shortfall was 4 million metric tonnes.
Pakistan has suffered a loss of 300 billion rupees
Sources told Geo News that the Ministry of National Food Security informed PM Shahbaz’s cabinet that 28.18 million tonnes of wheat was produced last year and the caretaker government had decided to import 2.45 million tonnes more. The Prime Minister was also informed that over 300 billion rupees have been lost to the national exchequer due to excessive import of wheat.
Announcement to buy 1.8 million metric tons of wheat
Separately, presiding over a meeting in Lahore, Prime Minister Shehbaz assured that the government would procure 1.8 million metric tonnes of wheat through the Pakistan Agriculture and Warehousing and Services Corporation (PASCO) to ease the financial problems of farmers. Taking serious note of the reports of difficulties faced by the farmers, PM Shehbaz said that there will be no compromise on the economic security of the producers and ordered the officials concerned to personally monitor the wheat procurement opportunities.
A National Food Security Committee was also formed
Apart from this, PM Shehbaz has also constituted a National Food Security Committee to ensure the convenience of farmers and address their concerns regarding wheat procurement. The committee will take steps to protect the interests of farmers within four days. Meanwhile, informing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about the obstacles in the ongoing investigation, Secretary Afzal refuted reports that former acting Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar and then acting Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi were arrested by the investigation team.
