Cupboard division secretary refutes summoning Kakar, ex-Punjab CM Mohsin Naqvi in investigation
- Probe officer guidelines out summoning ex-prime minister Kakar, Naqvi.
- PM Shehbaz varieties nationwide meals safety committee for farmers.
- Says govt will procure 1.8m metric tonnes of wheat by way of Passco.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stated that the federal government will put every thing earlier than the individuals with regard to these liable for the wheat import scandal, Prime Time News24 reported on Sunday.
“We are going to put every thing earlier than the nation,” PM Shehbaz stated throughout a gathering with Cupboard Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, the bureaucrat main the probe into the stated problem.
Directing Afzal to repair duty and inform the person(s) liable for the scandal, the premier ordered the cupboard secretary to work out suggestions with out there data and paperwork and submit the ultimate report by Monday (tomorrow).
The premier’s remarks got here because the federal authorities has been caught in a repair after the Balochistan and Punjab governments had been unable to buy wheat from the farmers as a result of a surplus in inventory which, to this point, is being attributed to extreme import of the crop.
As a result of non-purchase of wheat by the provincial governments, wheat is being bought at a cheaper price than the official fee — a matter of grave concern for the farmers.
Nevertheless, a day earlier, former caretaker prime minister Kakar, whereas talking throughout an interview, dominated out his position within the prevailing disaster stressing that “it isn’t a job of a chief minister to supervise wheat manufacturing”.
Commenting on the choice to import wheat, he stated that solely 3.4 million metric tonnes of the stated crop was imported whereas the scarcity was of 4 million metric tonnes.
Sources instructed Prime Time News24 that the Ministry of Nationwide Meals Safety had apprised PM Shehbaz’s cupboard that 28.18 million tonnes of wheat was produced final yr and the caretaker authorities determined to import 2.45 million tonnes extra.
The premier has additionally been instructed that the extra wheat import precipitated a lack of greater than Rs300 billion to the nationwide exchequer.
Individually, chairing a gathering in Lahore, PM Shehbaz reassured that the federal government will procure 1.8 million metric tonnes of wheat by means of the Pakistan Agricultural and Storage and Companies Company (Passco) to ease the financial issues of farmers.
Taking critical discover of the experiences of difficulties being confronted by farmers, the PM stated that there could be no compromise on the financial safety of growers and ordered the related officers to personally oversee wheat procurement alternatives.
Moreover, PM Shehbaz has additionally constituted a nationwide meals safety committee to make sure farmers’ facilitation relating to wheat procurement and tackle their considerations.
The committee would take measures inside 4 days to safeguard farmers’ pursuits.
In the meantime, apprising the prime minister in regards to the hindrances within the ongoing investigation, Secretary Afzal refuted the experiences suggesting that Kakar and the then-caretaker chief minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi had been summoned by the investigation staff.
“Neither caretaker PM nor [Mohsin] Naqvi was summoned [in the investigation],” he stated.
Over 100,000 metric tonnes of carry-forward inventory
Shedding mild on the scandal, authorities paperwork out there with Prime Time News24 reveal that the nation had 113,529 metric tonnes of carry-forward inventory of wheat when PM Shehbaz took workplace.
Revealing that the caretaker authorities imported wheat costing Rs98.5 billion, the paperwork present that the Finance Ministry allowed the import of 0.5 million metric tonnes of wheat on September 27, 2023, by way of the non-public sector on the time when the greenback was being exchanged at 305 in opposition to the native foreign money.
The imported wheat had price the federal government greater than Rs93 per kilogram.
In the meantime, former secretary meals safety Muhammad Mehmood had despatched the abstract of wheat import to the prime minister, whereas the Ministry of Maritime Affairs directed to prioritise the arrival of imported wheat at ports.
The allow to import wheat additionally provisioned an choice to revise the abstract if required.
It additionally confirmed that 75% of wheat procurement targets from provinces had been achieved final yr.
The wheat manufacturing goal for 2023 within the 4 provinces was set at 28.18 million metric tonnes.
In 2022-23, there was 1.63 million metric tonnes of carry-forward wheat inventory within the nation.
In the meantime, the doc additionally mentions the wheat quota for the armed forces (2022-23) with the Pakistan Military’s 175,000 metric tonnes, Pakistan Air Drive’s 10,500 metric tonnes and Pakistan Navy’s 2,200 metric tonnes.
For provinces, the quota for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was 1.4 million metric tonnes, Gilgit Baltistan’s 200,000 metric tonnes and Azad Kashmir’s 300,000 metric tonnes of wheat.
Utility shops’ quota was mounted at 400,000 tonnes, whereas 244,810 metric tonnes of wheat was allotted for others.
In whole, 2.732 million metric tonnes of wheat quota was allotted for numerous establishments and provincial governments.
