LAHORE: The Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC) has termed the federal cabinet’s decision to suspend four food security officers involved in the wheat scandal as insufficient.

PKRC said these officers are being made scapegoats to protect the real culprits.

PKRC General Secretary Farooq Tariq said on Wednesday that the rulers were trying to cover up the scandal by punishing a few junior officers.

The investigative committee has already given a clean chit to the caretaker government. He pointed out that the federal government has appointed a chairman of the investigative committee who is a former secretary of the caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq's cabinet, Kamran Ali Afzal. "How can a federal secretary investigate his former boss?" he questioned.

The wheat scandal has been covered up, and the real culprits who made this key economic decision are being protected. They are the caretaker government and its ministers who allowed imports for their vested interests. "Sixty companies have made huge profits due to the wheat scandal, while most farmers are still unable to sell their wheat at government rates and are being forced to sell at lower prices," Farooq said.

Farooq warned that if the government does not start wheat procurement and take action against the real culprits of the wheat scandal, the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee will invite farmers from all over the country to protest in Lahore and Islamabad. "We will not let the government protect the real culprits and punish the junior officers," he said.

PKRC also demanded the formation of a commission comprising farmer leaders to investigate the wheat scandal and identify the real culprits.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024