Islamabad: The Auditor General of Pakistan has ordered a special audit of the recent wheat scandal, which allegedly caused losses exceeding 300 billion rupees.
The Auditor General initiated a special investigation into the wheat procurement crisis of 2023-24 on Tuesday. According to sources, this “special investigation” is akin to a special audit of a specific case, involving coordination with federal and provincial officials from the food sector and Pakistan Customs.
The Auditor General has tasked all provincial and regional (including Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) Directors General of Audit to obtain the following information from their respective food departments within a week:
1. The approved wheat procurement policies for the fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24.
2. A complete list of wheat shortages, including locations, storage capacities, and the nature of the shortages (e.g., house-type warehouses, silos, raised platforms).
3. Wheat production targets for the fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24, and actual production achieved against those targets.
4. Approved wheat release policies for the years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24.
5. Complete details of wheat released during 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24, in metric tons by mill/recipient.
6. Detailed information on imported wheat during 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 (if any).
7. Complete details of wheat subsidies provided, both direct and indirect, with supporting records.
A proforma has been issued to all provincial food departments, requiring them to fill it out and submit it to audit officials.
At the federal level, the Director General of Commercial Audit and Evaluation has been directed to gather required information from Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation Limited (PASSCO), Flour Mills, and Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP).
The Directors General of Audit (Inland Revenue and Customs) North, Lahore, and South, Karachi, have also been instructed to collect necessary information from Pakistan Customs.
Reports indicate that during 2023-24, additional wheat was imported, resulting in a loss exceeding 300 billion rupees. It was noted that despite producing 28.18 million tons of wheat last year, the caretaker government decided to import an additional 2.45 million tons.
The additional imports continued during the initial weeks of the current government. Due to the extra wheat imports, provincial governments, especially Punjab, purchased very little wheat from farmers, forcing them to sell their produce at lower than official prices, resulting in significant losses for the farmers.
