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Thursday, November 21, 2024

Wheat Debate: Uncovering Truths from Fields to Form 47

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Verbal debate between former Caretaker Prime Minister and PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi regarding the ongoing wheat crisis takes a negative turn .

Former caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar engaged in a verbal altercation with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi regarding the ongoing wheat crisis in the country. The confrontation occurred at a local Islamabad hotel on Friday, where harsh words were exchanged between the two lawmakers.

Kakar confronted Abbasi, stating, “You and PML-N would hide your faces if I were to discuss the issue of Form 47.”

Abbasi responded by asking, “Have you come to arrest me?”

In response to Abbasi’s remarks, Kakar emphasized that he had spoken truthfully on the issue during a television program.

The reference to Form 47 pertains to the rigging allegations made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other parties regarding the manipulation of results in the February 8 polls. The allegations suggest that the results recorded in Form 47, which provide provisional consolidated results of constituencies excluding postal ballots, were tampered with.

The bitter exchange between Kakar and Abbasi ensued from their disagreement over the wheat import scandal, which has put both the federal and Punjab governments under scrutiny.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed an inquiry committee, led by Secretary Cabinet Division Kamran Ali Afzal, to investigate the import of wheat despite a surplus from last year’s crop, resulting in an excess stock that provincial governments are unable to purchase from farmers.

The surplus stock is attributed to the caretaker government’s decision, led by Kakar, to allow the import of 2,758,226 metric tonnes of wheat worth Rs225.783 billion until February 2024.

However, Kakar, in an interview, denied any involvement in the crisis, stating that overseeing wheat production is not the responsibility of a prime minister.

Regarding the decision to import wheat, Kakar clarified that only 3.4 million metric tonnes of wheat were imported, whereas the shortage was 4 million metric tonnes.

According to sources, the Ministry of National Food Security informed Shehbaz’s cabinet that 28.18 million tonnes of wheat were produced last year, leading the caretaker government to decide to import an additional 2.45 million tonnes.

Additionally, the federal government removed Federal Secretary National Food Security and Research Division, Captain (retd) Muhammad Asif, from his post due to the wheat import issue. Muhammad Fakhr Alam Irfan, a Grade 22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, has been appointed as the new federal secretary of the National Food Security and Research Division.

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