ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research at its meeting on Tuesday discussed the status of cess, and was informed that about Rs3 billion in cess arrears are owed by textile industries.

Instead of paying the dues, 121 textile industries filed 65 cases against the amount, of which 63 were decided in favour of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, officials informed the committee meeting which was chaired by Senator Syed Masroor Ahsan.

The committee was informed that two cases were pending in the Peshawar High Court, whereas during fiscal year 2023-24, the Cotton Commission collected around Rs293 million in cess. Currently, 184 textile industries were paying the levy while 157 were not responding.

The committee expressed its displeasure over the non-submission of breakdown of the cess owed by textile industries, stating that officials failed to submit details and deferred the matter.

Instead of paying dues, 121 industries filed 65 cases, food security panel told

Senator Aimal Wali Khan inquired about the role of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) and the rules under which such a committee was constituted.

The PCCC, constituted under an act of parliament, is chaired by the federal minister, with members including APTMA, provincial secretaries of the agriculture department, and cotton growers from the four provinces.

Wheat import scandal

The standing committee raised the issue of recent scandal of wheat imports and constituted a sub-committee to investigate the scandal, and named Senator Aimal Wali Khan as its convener. The committee was briefed on the role of the wheat board and the members comprising the board.

Officials apprised the committee that the wheat board, comprising 27 members, including wheat growers, was constituted on the recommendation of the Senate Standing Committee.

The board has the mandate to ensure availability of agricultural inputs for wheat growth and evaluation of the cost of wheat crop production in consultation with provinces. However, the initial forecast indicates that the production of wheat is expected to decline in the next rabi season due to the lower price of wheat in the market. As a result, the yield of wheat is expected to be low in the next rabi season.

The committee was also briefed on the role and function of Passco along with the budget for the last three years. The Managing Director of Passco, Sarfaraz Durrani, informed the committee that the primary function of Passco is to maintain strategic reserves of wheat at the national level to ensure food security.

Additionally, Passco extended social welfare to farmers by providing a support price to stabilise the market price. To run its operations, Passco borrows money from six commercial banks for procurement of wheat. These banks own a 75 per cent share, while the remaining 25 per cent share of Passco is owned by the government of Pakistan. However, Passsco has not received any budgetary grants from the government to run its operations.

As of now, Passco has receivables of around Rs194.746 million, which are owed by the food departments of all provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the government of Pakistan, and the Pakistan Army.

Recently, Passco took disciplinary action against 249 employees, including two senior general managers, involved in corruption to enhance the performance of Passco.

Senator Ahsan highlighted the issue of pensions for employees of the Pakistan Cotton Standards Institute.

He directed that pensions should be provided to these employees, stating that they had dedicated their lives to the institution and that pensions should be disbursed as soon as possible.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2024