Wheat flour crisis: Key factors ignored by JIT

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) headed by Director General FIA, Wajid Zia is said to have ignored key factors and the role of flour mills mafia behind wheat flour crisis sourced to the office of Director Food Punjab. This was claimed in a letter which has been uploaded on the Prime Minister's Citizens Portal and shared with Chief Secretary Punjab and Director General Anti Corruption Punjab.

The letter says that it was never a part of Punjab Government's wheat release policy for the last 50 years that subsidized wheat quota will be released only to those flour mills which will get a certificate from Flour Mills Association.

The incumbent Director Food Punjab in his letter No.ADF(WR), 2019-20 issued on August 17, 2019 (included in clause 7) noted that the quota will be released to 8523 bodies of 814 flour mills including 200 mills which were closed for the last five years. The information shared with the JIT and other government officials, indicates that flour from these 200 closed mills was sold to the private sector.

JIT has also been told that Director Food Punjab, in clause 3 of the policy letter, approved wheat quota of 35 jute bags per body for Lahore and 25 bags per body for Rawalpindi but to give favour to Lahore, he increased per body quota for Lahore from 35 to 50 jute bags( 100 kg each). For Lahore Division 130434 bags of wheat were purchased whereas 5.39340 million bags from other Divisions were also allocated, expense of which was borne by the Punjab government. The reason for the wheat crisis in Lahore Division, as per the letter was that the mills of Lahore obtained 50 bags per body but didn't grind the entire quota and sold it to Rawalpindi's flour mills.

Historically, the annual wheat released to flour mills in Rawalpindi Division has been higher than Lahore except this year. The documents show that the wheat quota for Rawalpindi was almost double vis-a-vis Lahore despite this special favour to Lahore Division and due to the flour mills Mafia, wheat crisis emerged in Lahore. However, according to District Administration Rawalpindi, no wheat or flour crisis was witnessed in Rawalpindi Division due to a better monitoring system. Another key reason for the wheat crisis, was said to be the appointment of ex-PCS officer in top position in Food Department Punjab.

The officials of Food Department are also directly rewarded by the flour mills, which is evident from the fact that these officials also facilitate meetings of mighty flour mills association with the top bureaucracy in the province.