Wheat export in 2007: Shaukat Aziz''s decision cost exchequer Rs 25.8 billion, PAC informed

A senior bureaucrat on Wednesday accused former prime minister Shaukat Aziz of taking wrong decision in 2007 with regard to wheat export, which caused shortage of the commodity and a loss of Rs 25.8 billion to the exchequer. Secretary Food and Agriculture Ziaur Rehman, while briefing the Public Accounts Committee here, stated that the decision was taken by the then Cabinet led by Shaukat Aziz on the assumption of the bumper crop, despite the fact that the ministry had opposed the decision.
The committee met with Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the chair and reviewed the audit report of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Minfa) for 2007-08. "The then Secretary Minfa Ismail Qureshi opposed and objected to the decision of wheat export, but the Cabinet overruled his objections," the incumbent secretary contended.
The decision not only created wheat shortage in the domestic market, but also pushed up the wheat prices, he maintained. According to the findings of the Auditor General, 300,000 tons of wheat was exported in 2007 at a rate of $185 per ton and just after a few months the government had to import 1.5 million tons at $400 per ton, causing a huge loss to the exchequer.
It was also mentioned in the reports that proper export data was not maintained by the ministry as it was sold to 13 private entities. Taking serious note of the wrongdoings, the committee directed the audit department to obtain and examine the record from these 13 entities and submit a report after 15 days, verifying whether the wheat was exported or not, saying that the records could be obtained from the Federal Board of Revenue, the State Bank of Pakistan and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Besides, the committee was briefed that Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) management had purchased four residential plots worth Rs 415.674 million in Lahore without any justification. The committee expressed grave concern over the allotment of more than one plot to senior bureaucrats, saying that system should be institutionalised and a uniform policy be introduced in this regard. He asked the relevant principal accounting officer to make recoveries and present its report before the committee within a month.
Secretary Minfa informed that the committee that an amount of Rs 30 billion is required to procure wheat, but banks were not ready to provide the amount. The PAC said that storage silos situated in Khairpur (Sindh) and Chichawatni (Punjab) either be sold to provincial governments or exchanged with concerned departments for proper utilisation.
To another audit para related to payment of penalty by Passco to Lahore Development Authority (LDA) over violation of construction rules, the PAC directed that responsibility should be fixed and report be submitted within one month. The PAC called for resolving the issue through bilateral negotiations rather than indulging in litigation.
The PAC also sought details from the Establishment Division, the Ministry of Finance about the list of officers who had enjoyed dual facility of getting benefits from the department where they were on deputation as well as their parent department. The meeting was informed that the exchequer also had to bear a loss of Rs 763.954 million due to extra expenditure on purchase of black grams at higher rates.