Sensing the gravity of the situation arisen out of a flawed wheat procurement policy, the government on Saturday swung into action to mitigate and address the grievances of farmers who had taken to the streets against an inordinate delay in the purchase of grain.
Taking notice of the issues faced by the farmers in selling their wheat and obtaining gunny bags for their crops, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday formed a committee under the national food security and research ministry to address their grievances within four days.
According to a statement issued by the PM’s Office, the premier chaired an emergency meeting in the federal capital to review the procurement of wheat through the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco).
During the huddle, PM Shehbaz expressed his concern over the difficulties faced by the farmers in receiving fair prices for their wheat and directed the authorities to take immediate action to resolve the matter.
He informed the participants of the meeting that the federal government was procuring 1.8 million metric tons of wheat through Passco to ensure that the farmers received maximum benefit for their yield.
The premier ordered the relevant officials to personally monitor the wheat procurement process and ensure that farmers received their due payments on time.
He pledged that the government would not compromise on the economic protection of the farmers and take all necessary steps to ensure their welfare.
PM Shehbaz also praised the bumper wheat crop this year, vowing that he would allow the hard work of the farmers fall victim to anyone’s negligence.
The meeting was attended by federal ministers Rana Tanveer and Attaullah Tarar as well as other relevant officials.
In a related development, the inquiry committee probing into the wheat import scandal denied reports of summoning former caretaker premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who was the interim Punjab chief minister back then.
The inquiry committee, formed to investigate into the import of wheat during the caretaker government’s tenure, in its meeting considered handing over the matter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for taking action after completing its probe.
The investigation into the wheat import scandal is still under way and during its meeting, the inquiry committee took various options into consideration.
According to the sources, key figures of the caretaker set-up are likely to be summoned. However, they added that the former caretaker prime minister had not received a formal summon notice yet.
PM Shehbaz had instructed the four-member committee to conduct an investigation and submit a report to him within four days.
The sources said the caretaker premier and ministers might be sent a questionnaire through which they could present their positions in connection with the investigation.
The inquiry committee will meet again on Sunday (today).
The head of the committee, Federal Cabinet Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, refuted “misleading” reports of the body summoning Kakar or Naqvi.
He maintained that there was no truth in these reports. “I am working within my scope and false news reports are being spread about my inquiry,” he added.
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