ISLAMABAD: The ongoing crisis of wheat in the country is likely to put bureaucracy dealing with wheat procurement and Flour Mills owners into hot water as inquiry committee comprising anti-corruption and secret service agencies is probing political and administrative reasons behind the ongoing artificial shortage of staple commodity.
Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan taking notice of crisis that led to price hike of wheat products across the country, had formed a high power inquiry committee headed by Director General (DG) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The Anti-Corruption department and civil premier secret service agency Intelligence Bureau (IB) are part of probe team.
Read:Government forms FIA special team to probe wheat crisis
A senior official serving for federal ministry of National Food Security on condition of anonymity informed The News Today (TNT) that the officials of Intelligence Bureau (IB) on Thursday visited the ministry where they collected and exchanged the information with food security commissioners.
The official revealed that the relevant official of secret service and anti-corruption department have asked the provincial food departments and Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Cooperation (PASSCO) to submit the all record of wheat procurement, leftover and releases to flour mills in provinces.
Federal ministry of National Food Security believed that the center of this artificial wheat crisis remains in Punjab which is largest producer of wheat in the country. The official documents of concerned ministry revealed that more than 814 flour mills in Punjab, while more than 160 flour mills in Sindh province are directly engaged with provincial food departments to lift their wheat quota.
The same day on Thursday, an important emergency meeting of senior officials of provincial food departments and PASSCO was held in ministry headed by federal secretary Hashim Popalzai to review the current stocks of wheat held by provinces and federal institution PASSCO. Meeting also discussed the wheat target for upcoming procurement season starting from mid-March.
Federal secretary informed TNT that procurement target in upcoming season of wheat starting from March 2020 will be 8.1 million tons all wheat producing provinces. Punjab province has set procurement target in upcoming season as 4.5 million tons, Sindh 1.4 million tons, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 0.3 million tons and Balochistan food department procurement target is set at 11,000 tons.
According to food security commissioner’s office, the accumulated volume of 3.88 million tons wheat is already stocked in the country. Punjab has the share of 2.394 million tons, Sindh 0.375 million tons, KPK 0.013 million tons while federal department PASSCO has the stock of 1.1 million tons wheat in government storage facilities.
The recent meeting of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) after the artificial crisis of wheat had approved the import of 0.3 million tons wheat, the wheat import will start after issuance of notification from ministry of National Food Security subject to the signature of premier Khan.
