NAB seeks flour mills’ record in subsidy probe

Statements of owners recorded in Dera Ghaz Khan

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Multan officials have started an investigation against flour mills after.

Initially, record was sought from flour mill owners to investigate the subsidy of millions of rupees given during Ramazan in 2016-19.

A NAB inquiry team reached Dera Ghazi Khan and recorded statements of some flour mill owners. Officials of 26 flour mills have been summoned to Multan on September 8 with the record and evidence.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, taking notice of a flour and wheat crisis in the country, had ordered an inquiry into the subsidy given to flour mills after similar proceedings related to the sugar industry.

After initiating the investigation regarding subsidy given under the Ramazan package from 2016 to 2019, the team of NAB Multan reached the office of the deputy director food department Dera Ghazi Khan where flour mill owners from all over the division were summoned and their statements were recorded.

According to NAB sources, the flour mills were given a subsidy of up to Rs500 per maund. The sources said the mills did not fully grind the subsidised wheat and instead of producing flour, sold it with the connivance of the department. In this regard, the quota of several flour mills and the electricity bills for grinding are also inconsistent. The NAB team will prepare a detailed report and send it to Lahore.

The officers in the NAB team have reportedly objected to the records of 26 flour mills of Dera Ghazi Khan division and directed them to provide complete evidence by September 8. In case the NAB investigation team is not satisfied, it would move to recover the subsidy of millions of rupees from the flour mills.

Talking to journalists, former chairman Flour Mills Association Punjab Sardar Habibur Rehman Khan Leghari, who was present during the inquiry, said the NAB team did not listen to the facts while the association had earlier met the chairman NAB and informed him of the situation. He said the chairman NAB had assured the businessmen that they would not be unjustly summoned and there would be no injustice with the business community.

He alleged that the NAB team had harassed the mill owners despite the submission of complete record.

He said flour bags were made and handed over to the officers of food department and district administration as per the wheat provided under Ramazan subsidy, of which the mills had complete record. Earlier, the matter was also investigated by the anti-corruption department, during which the mill owners faced hardship, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2020.