Farmers benefit from sugar inquiry commission's report as 'all dues cleared'

KARACHI: Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar Saturday said that following the sugar commission’s report, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) imposed additional taxes on mills, enabling the payment of all outstanding dues to farmers, ARY NEWS reported.

Sharing details from his Twitter handle, Mirza Shahzad Akber said that the FBR imposed additional taxes of Rs619 billion on sugar mills and Rs 13.8 billion on middlemen following a report from the sugar inquiry commission.

شوگر انکوائری کمیشن کی رپورٹ کی روشنی میں FBR نے 619 ارب اضافی ٹیکس عائد کیا جبکہ سٹہ بازوں پر 13.8 ارب کا اضافی ٹیکس لاگو ہوا،علاوہ ازیں CCP نے 44 ارب جرمانہ بھی لگایا۔ یہ تمام ریکوری شوگر کمیشن کے بعد ممکن ہوئیں، اسی طرح کسانوں کی سالوں سے رکی ادائیگیاں بھی مل مالکان سےکروائئ pic.twitter.com/gax9kf81YD

— Mirza Shahzad Akbar (@ShazadAkbar) October 16, 2021

The competitive Commission of Pakistan (CCP) also imposed a fine of Rs44 billion, he said adding that all these recoveries were made owing to the sugar inquiry commission report and helped in clearing years-long pending dues of the farmers.

It is pertinent to mention here that Shahzad Akbar announced to made the sugar inquiry commission report public on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

According to the report, he revealed during the presser that sugar mill owners inflicted losses on sugarcane growers consistently.

The commission found irregularities in advance payments to farmers in the form of cash or commodity, which is tantamount to unregulated banking, he disclosed, adding mill owners hurt farmers by indulging in informal banking and earned a profit of up to 35 percent, he added.

He further entailed that the inquiry commission affixed the responsibility of the corruption on betting agents who have been working in collusion with sugar mills across the country.

In Sindh, Akbar said, the Omni Group benefited from the subsidies provided by the Sindh government.