Probe reports on wheat, sugar crisis released without alteration: PM Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that preliminary reports into sudden price hikes of sugar and wheat have been released immediately without alteration and tampering, ARY News reported.

Taking to Twitter PM Imran Khan said that he awaits detailed forensic reports now by the high-powered commission, which will come out on April 25.

“I await the detailed forensic reports now by the high-powered commission, which will come out on 25 April, before taking action. InshaAllah, after these reports come out no powerful lobby will be able to profiteer at the expense of our public,” he said in a Tweet.

He further said that previous political leadership, because of their vested interests and compromises, lacked the moral courage to order and release such reports.

As promised preliminary reports into sudden price hikes of sugar & wheat have been released immed without alteration/tampering.This is unprecedented in Pak’s history.Prev pol ldrships bec of their vested interests & compromises lacked moral courage to order & release such reports

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 5, 2020

“This is unprecedented in Pak’s history. Previous leaderships because of their vested interests & compromises lacked the moral courage to order and release such reports”, he added.

Read More: Inquiry reports on flour, sugar crisis made public on PM Imran’s order

The prime minister expressed the resolve that no powerful lobby will be able to profiteer at the expense of public.

On the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the federal government on Saturday made public reports of a high-level inquiry into the sugar and wheat crises that had hit the people hard across the country in January.

Under the stewardship of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general Wajid Zia, two teams carried out a probe into the crises and furnished their reports to the prime minister upon completion for perusal.

Prime Minister Khan went through the report before these were made public.

The report revealed PTI stalwart Jahangir Khan Tareen, a brother of Food Minister Khusro Bakhtiyar, and PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi are among the beneficiaries of the sugar crisis which took a serious toll on the people, especially the poor.

It said the major reason behind the crises was a lack of planning on the part of the federal and provincial governments.

The Punjab Food Department dragged its feet to maintain sufficient stock of wheat in the province and also failed to iron out a demand and supply mechanism, it claimed, adding the department didn’t take timely decisions to redress the situation.

However, the report said, the commission couldn’t fix the responsibility for the crises on any individual in Sindh province.