ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanded on Monday to form a high-powered judicial commission to probe into billions of rupees wheat scandal to bring the real culprits to book, saying the federal government-constituted inquiry committee is nothing but to save the skins of those involved in it.
Speaking at a presser, PTI senior leader Sheikh Waqas Akram along with PTI’s opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar said that the then regime of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government inflicted a loss of Rs 300 billion to the national kitty through unnecessary wheat import.
He said that the Shehbaz Sharif-led PMD regime moved the summary for wheat import and the farmers were now being forced to bear the burden due to unnecessary wheat import by the then PDM and caretaker governments.
He said that the caretakers could not be exonerated as it was an extension of the then PDM regime, adding the “incompetent and anti-farmer” PML-N government is causing the “economic massacre” of farmers due to its failure to adopt a proper strategy regarding wheat procurement.
“The wheat crisis will have a very bad impact on farmers as well as the masses in the long run and only middlemen will benefit from the government’s mismanagement,” he added.
Waqas demanded the government take immediate steps to facilitate the farmers and pay them the due price of their crop instead of resorting to blame game to pass the buck onto one another to save the skins of real culprits.
He warned that the day is not far when the farmers will take to the streets against this injustice which will make things worse for Shehbaz Sharif-led regime, as it is busy to hush things up under the carpet.
Bhachar said that the farmers would start their massive protest demonstration on May 12 and PTI would join them, as the party would not leave them alone.
He said that 77 million metric tons of wheat is salable in Punjab, while the government announced to buy just two million metric tons, which showed it wants them to sell their crop at a throwaway price.
He demanded a thorough probe into the wheat scandal besides removing the then secretary food besides taking the then caretaker chief minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi along with ex-interim prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar to task for playing havoc with the country for their petty vested interests.
Sahibzada Mehboob, another PTI leader, lauded the Taliban government in Afghanistan for prioritizing the agriculture sector after restoring normalcy in the country, adding their initiative of starting work on 285-kilometre-long Qosh Tepa Canal in early 2022 was solely to boost the agriculture sector, which would be completed by 2025.
He said that PTI would not allow the government to push six crore farmers against the wall, demanding an open investigation to give exemplary punishment to those involved in it.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024