Corruption in Sindh has assumed the status of an industry with the public sector departments mopping up major chunk of bribes and misappropriated money to the tune of billions of rupees annually. A recent study in corruption and financial mismanagement shows that the provincial exchequer is losing billions of rupees every year.
No one would have thought of it, but the biggest share of this money goes to ten most corrupt departments.
The corruption mafia has made it a challenging task for the chief executive of the province to cashier the corrupt officials from public offices by manoeuvring the patronage of influential political clans and top 'public servants'.
Political instability in the province has further aggravated the situation, as it has provided leverage to the corruption mafia to exploit the situation through the patrons - the feudal politicians.
The Provincial Food Department, it seems, has attained the top position. The distribution, storage officials, transporters and mill owners are equally responsible for corruption and plundering at the cost of provincial exchequer and the people of Sindh who are paying the highest price in the country for the most essential food item - wheat flour.
Corrupt Food Department officials in other parts of the country have been taken to task, and the looted moneys have been recovered, but in Sindh negligible number of incidents of corruption have been reported, and that too of petty officials.
One top Food official, who accumulated huge assets beyond his means of earning, when asked by an investigating agency about his assets, said that his wife had brought it in dowry. But the fact remains that his wife belongs to a lower middle class family.
Similarly, a District Food Controller, involved in massive trading of government wheat, burning of 54,000 empty gunny bags worth Rs 2.85 million at Hyderabad government grain godowns, enjoying partnership with a transport contractor and flour mill owner, and having three luxurious houses, one at Karachi and two in Hyderabad, including one newly constructed house in Defence society, was suspended by Food Secretary on charges of financial mismanagement. But he escaped all action despite the fact that a responsible Food Dept official, conducting the inquiry into the affairs of the DFC office Hyderabad, pointed out a number of incidents of corruption and mismanagement and recommended legal action.
The corruption mafia immediately came into action and manoeuvred his reinstatement through Services and General Administration. Later he was again posted in his original post.
The incident of the DFC office further confirmed the ongoing corruption in Food Department. Recently, a well-known food grain trader file a written complaint against DFC, Dadu, for recovery of Rs 45,000 taken as loan.
In his application he stated that when he went to settle his account of wheat supply to the government and demanded reimbursement of the amount of loan, he was told that the amount had been deducted as 'commission' of the DFC.
Similarly, a procurement officer of Dadu District, in his written complaint alleged that the DFC had charged Rs 2 per wheat bag procured by the canter and thus an amount of Rs 75,000 had been recovered from him under duress. According to authentic reports, the DFC was facing no less than four inquiries of corruption during his service at Khairpur District.
The DFCs are in the habit of storing wheat at flour mills at the time of wheat procurement campaign on the pretext of shortage of storage space. As such, a huge quantity of wheat costing Rs 4.998 million was stored at South Land Flour Mills, which later was illegally pledged to a commercial bank by the mill management. An FIR was lodged against the mill management, but later the mill was allowed to reimburse the amount in instalments and its quota was also restored.
Similarly, the New Mehran Flour Mills was found guilty of misappropriating 10359 bags of 100 kg. The then Deputy Director Food declared it a clear-cut case of theft committed by the management of the mill with the connivance of food officials, particularly the DFC Hyderabad. Yet the mill management and the DFC escape legal action.
An Additional Deputy Director of Food, recently transferred to Regional Food Directorate Hyderabad, was found staying at a luxury hotel, paying Rs 2000 per night stay and later he shifted to VIP Rest House. According to Food Department sources, he was having 400 acres of fertile agriculture land in Tando Allahyar district and a palatial house in Defence, Karachi. These sources said that his father was a stringer of a vernacular regional daily newspaper, while his brother earned a name as hijacker of a PIA plane, which was forcibly taken to Kabul and later to Damascus.
It would not be out of place to relate a recent case of a transport contractor who was reported to have four firms of transport contractor under different names and claimed to be the leader of transport contractors' cartel. He was awarded a contract to transport 35,000 tons wheat (350,000 bags of 100 kg) from Naushero Feroze to Hyderabad at the rate of Rs 54.10 whereas the rate for transportation of wheat from Naushero Froze to Karachi was Rs 54.60 per bag of 100 kg.
During recent study it came to light that the contractor is transporting wheat through private transporters at the rate of Rs 20 to 24 per bag, which means a net profit of around Rs 8 to 10 million. Local goods transporters have further confirmed this, as they are engaged in transportation of government wheat on behalf of contractors at the rate Rs 22 to Rs 24 per bag.
It is an open secret that the DFCs are charging 7 percent of the total amount of the contract from the transport contractors at the time of payment. This has been confirmed by inside sources of the food department and even by some transport contractors.
An example a training teachers of DPS 15 grade who on his own request accepted the post of Assistant Food Controller DPS 10 and on the recommendation of some influential politician posted as in charge of government Bolari Grain goodowns at Kotri can be quoted of massive corruption and plunder in food department.
The situation in provincial agriculture department is not different from that of food department where corruption, ineptness and political and administrative interference remain major deterrent in sustainable development of the agriculture sector in the province.
Sindh consumes 24 percent of total agro-chemical consumed in Pakistan. No less than 177 multinational, national and regional pesticides companies are engaged in marketing agro-chemical products having a turnover of around Rs 4 billion annually. Some of the pesticides companies, without proper infrastructure, succeeded in getting registration, after paying huge amounts to those responsible for registration, on their personal satisfaction as no criterion is fixed by the government for registration of pesticides companies. These companies readily obliged the officials of Agriculture Department with the understanding that samples of their products would not be drawn or if at all drawn would not be declared unfit or substandard. These companies allocate huge amounts for publicity of their products and the main beneficiary is so-called official monthly magazine 'Sindh Zaraat' published by the Directorate of Information Agriculture Extension by placing advertisement of their products in the magazine.
Who owns this magazine remains a mystery. The print line carries the name of Directorate of Information, Sindh Agriculture Extension as publisher but there is no account of its revenue nor there is any mention in ADP. Audit of its account has never been carried out since its inception, although the magazine's advertisement revenue is around Rs 0.350 to 0.421 million per annum.
The Director Information, according to Anti-corruption Establishment is facing an inquiry for reportedly submitting inflated bills just before the close of the financial year.
There is another case, which needed to be investigated, was the purchase of publicity vans for the department, worth Rs 4.4 million, along with equipment. Knowledgeable sources alleged that two old publicity vans have been purchased which are mostly seen parked behind the Agriculture Directorate while the office record shows their movement in various parts of the province.
The Agriculture Extension purchased laboratory equipment for agriculture laboratories at a cost of Rs 35 million to conduct laboratory analysis of pesticides being marketed in the province. But even after the lapse of one year this equipment has not been installed to date for reason best known to department officials, while the marketing of substandard, and even spurious, pesticides continues unabated.
The Agriculture Produce Market Committees are facing huge liquidity problems simply because of corruption and financial mismanagement of highest order, which can be judged by the cases pending against the administrators, secretaries in anti-corruption agencies and Regional Accountability Bureau involving millions of rupees misappropriation.
The record testifies that over 200 people have been appointed on political consideration on contingency basis in Agriculture Produce Market committees in the province costing around Rs 7.2 million annually to provincial exchequer and most of them are collecting their salaries without attending their duties. But no inquiry has been initiated into these appointments when almost all market committees are running in deficit.
Recently, an old fruit-exporting company had even approached President Pervez Musharraf against Secretary of Karachi Sabzi Mandi for demanding heavy amount to provide facilities to the company according to contract. An inquiry against the secretary is in progress but at the same time the corruption mafia is also engaged in manoeuvring to obtain a clean bill for the secretary.
The Weights and Measurements Department, working under the Agriculture Department, is collecting huge amounts every month from all over the province and is reportedly passing it to their patrons. A complaint in this regard was made to the then Sindh Chief Minister by a top ranking official of the Agriculture Department but no action has been taken.
Sindh Chief Minister and Advisor for Food and Agriculture have time and again said that corruption in any form would not be tolerated and corrupt officials would be brought to book, but action is still awaited.
An investigation into the affairs of Food and Agriculture Departments, if conducted, would reveal startling stories of loot and plunder.
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