LAHORE: As calls for a thorough probe into import of wheat at a time when local crop was maturing are gaining momentum, former Punjab chief minister and now Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi says the inquiry committee formed to investigate the scam will find no Punjab role in the issue.

“The Punjab government was and is not concerned with the wheat import. The province procures grain from the local farmers and not from abroad. The import decisions are taken by the federal authorities,” he told a press conference here on Monday.

“The federal government is the final authority about taking a decision on how much stock of a commodity like wheat must be ensured in the country, while Punjab has a specific procurement quota.”

He said former caretaker prime minister Anwarul Haq Kakar did not refer to any provincial government in the wheat procurement scandal but the media twisted Mr Kakar’s statement.

Around 3.2 million tonnes of wheat was imported between September 2023 and March 2024 while the local crop hit the market in the month of April.

Mr Naqvi said that in his personal opinion, the then federal government also did not act in bad faith on the import decision.

He told a questioner that some people might be desirous of instituting an inquiry against him and he could not say anything about such a desire, however, nothing should be expected from such a probe.

He said he and his team had worked with dedication for around a year and would be accountable even after a decade if any illegality was found in the working of his interim setup.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) have joined the farmers’ protest against wheat import and delay in the procurement of the local crop.

The JI has been staging a protest camp at the Charing Cross on The Mall for the last three days to press the government to accept demands of the wheat growers.

Central Punjab party emir Javed Kasuri told reporters the government was neither providing gunny bags to the farmers nor giving any date for procuring their produce.

He warned that the party would soon give a call to the farming community for besieging the CM House and hundreds of thousands of people would respond to this call if the authorities did not start wheat procurement at the earliest.

PMML President Khalid Masood Sindhu told a press conference that they too were ready to support the cause of the farmers if the latter decided to come out on roads.

He said his outfit would hold a large protest demonstration in Lahore on May 12, while such demonstrations would also be held in other towns to show solidarity with the wheat growers. He warned the protest would continue till the acceptance of demands by the government.

In the meantime, wheat rates have crashed in the provincial capital, where the produce is being sold at a rate of Rs3,500 against the official rate of Rs3,900 per 40kg.

The grain was available at Rs4,500 per 40kg in the corresponding period last year.

The price dip has provided a relief to the urban consumers as flour rates at atta chakki have come down from Rs175 to Rs160 per kg.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024