As Pakistan continues to face a major economic crisis, Kissan Ittehad Pakistan has announced that thousands of farmers will take part in nationwide demonstrations against the ongoing wheat crisis. Protests are scheduled to begin in Multan on May 10th.
Now, the reason behind this protest is the fact that wheat rates have plummeted in the Pakistani market and are shockingly below the support price of PKR 3,900 per 40 kg. The crisis prompted farmers to stage demonstrations in Lahore and several other Pakistani cities last month.
In response, the government launched a crackdown on the protests, arresting several farmers who took part. It is important to note that the reason behind this wheat crisis is a huge scam that unfolded while Pakistan was ruled by an interim government. The details of the scam are as follows:
What is wheat import fraud?
In 2023, Pakistan’s interim government allowed private entities to begin importing wheat with little or no regard to domestic wheat production. The ruling government has given permission to the private sector to import wheat worth Rs 3,300 billion from August 2023 to March 2024, according to documents seen by several media outlets.
The wheat import license was granted at a time when wheat prices began to decline on the international market. According to data compiled by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan imported 3.44 million tonnes of wheat with an estimated value of 282.975 billion rupees (equivalent to $1.005 billion). The deadline is March 31, 2024.
However, wheat imports will continue into April 2024, with the government saying it is awaiting the arrival of ships from overseas. The situation was complicated by the fact that wheat import data for April was not included in the final figures.
Six ships arrived in Pakistan on Eid day alone, but it was learned that Pakistan’s wheat imports increased to nearly 4 million tonnes. At a time when Pakistan was suffering from a historic economic crisis, this dealt a major blow to Pakistan’s finance ministry and the country’s foreign exchange reserves. The interim government invested $1.05 billion in hard-earned foreign exchange during the crisis.
Opposition parties claimed that the caretaker government continued to import wheat even though the country’s foreign exchange was declining at historic rates. Not only that, the government’s decision to allow the private sector to expand imports has given middlemen and corporations an incentive to continue their exploitation.
impact
It was alleged that the wheat imported by Pakistan was of inferior quality and did not meet the country’s consumption standards. Not only that, but the intermediaries were importing the products at very low prices and selling them at high prices to make huge profits.
The entire ordeal took place when Pakistani farmers witnessed a bumper wheat harvest. Due to large imports, Pakistan government’s wheat procurement has been reduced to 4.44 million tonnes from 7.8 million tonnes in the previous year. This is a decrease of almost 50% from last year’s numbers.
As a result, domestic farmers found themselves in a difficult situation. Although the government has fixed the minimum support price at Rs 3,900 per 40 kg, farmers are now forced to sell their crops at around Rs 2,800-3,000 per 40 kg due to lack of demand. dawn report. Not only that, but the private sector made significant profits before it began lowering prices to compete with already struggling farmers.
The situation sparked anger and resentment among farmers and sparked nationwide protests. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, also accused the former caretaker government of corruption in allowing wheat imports, but without supporting it with any evidence.
Former Prime Minister Kakar denies involvement
Amid the turmoil, the former administrator of Pakistan, under the regime in which this story unfolded, has denied any wrongdoing. He also expressed his intention to participate in an investigation into the over-importation of staple food crops.
“I appear before the wheat [inquiry] If the committee calls me,” Kakar told local Pakistani reporters on Sunday. geography news report. Kakkar, now a senator, revealed that no new laws on wheat imports were introduced during his tenure, and that the government only encouraged the “private” sector to import the staple crop.
He also pointed out that the interim government had allowed the private sector to import based on the Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) which was actually issued during the PTI-led government’s tenure.
The ruling government remains reluctant to investigate the issue.
Although Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has promised to “protect the interests of farmers at all costs,” reports have emerged that the federal government is reluctant to thoroughly investigate the fraud.
PML-N sources told Dawn that party supremo Nawaz Sharif had asked his brother to “investigate the matter indiscriminately”, but Shehbaz Sharif’s government did not see the urgency to do so. Didn’t show it. Information Minister Ataullah Tallah said, “The government has no such intention (to involve NAB/FIA in investigating the wheat import scam).” dawn.
Part of the reason for this may be the fact that it was Shivaz who played a key role in appointing Kakar as caretaker prime minister.
The investigation committee will discuss this issue
On Sunday, a committee of inquiry headed by the Cabinet Secretary held a meeting on the issue. “The committee worked today to verify the data and documents,” Information Minister Ataullah Tarar told Dawn. “The report is in preparation and has not been submitted to anyone,” he added.
Mr. Tarar also denied reports that Mr. Kakar was summoned during the meeting and also denied reports about his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The fact-finding committee was set up by Shehbaz earlier this week and headed by Cabinet Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal. This committee has been appointed to identify irregularities in wheat imports.
Although Shehbaz Sharif has assured that decisions will be made in the “interests of farmers,” farmers are growing impatient as the government’s investigation continues to move slowly. The situation has become even more complicated for the current government to resolve as it cannot afford to endure the anger of the farmers, who are now supported by the main opposition party, the PTI.
