THE seriousness of Prime Minister Imran Khan to take the issue of sugar and wheat scandal to its logical conclusion is manifest by the fact that the meeting of the Federal Cabinet on Tuesday consumed much of its time on debating different aspects of the situation arising out of the publication of reports of the Inquiry Committee on the subject with PrimeMinister expressing anger over threats being given to members of the probe body. Imran Khan warned elements threatening Inquiry Commission of strict action and also hinted that heads will roll once the final report is received on April 25. It has not been clarified as to who was hurling threats but it is understoodtheinfluentialmafiathat firstmanipulated decision-making circles both at federal and provincial level for their vested interests and then exploited the decision of export of sugar and wheat to earn billions are once again activeto sweepthings underthe carpet. It is, however, gratifying that the Prime Minister who took the courageous step of making the preliminary report of FIA public is determinedto gettothe bottom ofthe scandal andintroduce reforms aimed at transparency on such issues in future. The threats also confirm the sagacity of the move of the Prime Minister to reshuffle cabinet portfolios and transfer some bureaucrats as a precautionary measure to ensure that they do not influence in the on-going investigations. It is because of the hurdles being created by the vested interests that there is a viewpoint that the preliminary report should not have been made public and the Prime Minister should have waited for the final report fixing clear responsibility. There are different mafias in the country and they have become so powerful that they manipulate production and supplies as well as prices with or without connivance of the officials concerned. Therefore, mere publication of reports and even action against the elements involved would not produce the desired and lasting impact until and unless the entire system is reformed in a highly transparent manner. This is because the decision to export wheat and sugar was originally taken by the Economic Coordination Committee ofthe Cabinet (ECC), endorsed by the Federal Cabinet and the Punjab Cabinet approved the subsidy onexport despite opposition bytheMinisterconcerned.Whytomaintain such huge ministries and departments of agriculture; revenue and planning and development when they are unable to provide authentic data on availability of goods and cannot render fair and accurate advice for export or otherwise?
