ISLAMABAD: The inquiry committee, investigating the alleged excessive import of wheat, on Monday clarified that no government official or politician was summoned for probe in the matter.
In a notification, issued on Sunday, stated that the committee — being headed by the cabinet division secretary — held its first meeting during which it worked on the documents and the statistics.
It further denied the reports of any meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the wheat import matter.
The notification further said that the inquiry committee’s report is in the process of completion, however, the preliminary report has not been presented to anyone as of yet.
The development comes after reports emerged that the inquiry committee might summon former caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar ex-finance minister Shamshad Akhtar, and then-chief minister Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
A day earlier, Kakar denied any wrongdoing in the import of wheat and said he was ready to join the investigation into the import of the staple crop.
“I will appear before the wheat [inquiry] committee if it summons me,” the ex-premier said.
The inquiry committee, which is being headed by Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Afzal was constituted by PM Shehbaz last week. It has been tasked with fixing responsibilities for the import of wheat beyond demand and permission to open LCs after the month of February.
During the month of March, the private sector was allowed to import 6.91 million metric tonnes of wheat worth Rs57.192 billion. However, Kakar said that no new law was introduced to import wheat during his tenure and his government only “encouraged the private” sector to import the staple crop.
The federal government has been caught in a fix as the Balochistan and Punjab governments are unable to purchase wheat from farmers due to a surplus in stock which, so far, is being attributed to excessive import of the crop.
Due to the non-purchase of wheat by the provincial governments, wheat is being sold at a lower price than the official rate — a matter of grave concern for the farmers.
Sources told Geo News that the Ministry of National Food Security had apprised PM Shehbaz’s cabinet that 28.18 million tonnes of wheat was produced last year and the caretaker government decided to import 2.45 million tonnes more.
The premier was also told that the additional wheat import caused a loss of more than Rs300 billion to the national exchequer.
