PAC unearths Rs3.4b graft by 195 cotton mills
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday revealed that Rs3.4 billion in taxes had not been recovered from 195 cotton mills across Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan from 2012 to 2023.
The revelation came during a PAC meeting chaired by Junaid Akbar. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research came under sharp scrutiny for failing to collect the cotton tax for over a decade.
The secretary for food security informed the committee that the mills had taken the matter to court, but settlements were now in the works. "We hope the entire amount will be recovered in the coming months," he added.
However, committee members expressed frustration over why the matter had reached this point. Senator Saleem Mandviwala questioned, "Why did it even come to this. Why wasn't the tax collected in the first place?"
The secretary responded that the ministry lacked a clear mechanism for upfront tax recovery. Chairman Junaid Akbar instructed the ministry to ensure full recovery by June.
PAC member Aamir Dogar lamented the deteriorating state of cotton production, asking, "Cotton is disappearing from this country... what is being done about it?"
In response, the secretary said the Central Cotton Committee (CCC) was being merged into the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), and that efforts were underway to revive the cotton sector.
The committee also raised serious concerns about the frequent reshuffling of top bureaucrats in the ministry.
PAC member Hussain Tariq pointed out that four secretaries had been changed within the past eight months. The current secretary, he noted, was previously serving in the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan.
"It takes six months to even understand the workings of the ministry, and by that time the secretary is changed," Tariq said, urging PAC to issue guidelines discouraging such premature transfers.
Shazia Marri endorsed the proposal, urging PAC to formally advise the government against frequent administrative transfers. The committee agreed to write a letter to the prime minister on the issue.
Moreover, PAC members also expressed alarm over the declining cotton yield. The food security secretary assured the committee that improvement efforts were underway and that a special committee had been formed by the prime minister to address the issue.
However, the committee was informed of a Rs52.3 million loss due to the CCC's failure to invest Rs90 million. "This amount has now been invested," said the secretary, but the PAC directed the ministry to submit investment verification within 15 days.
Even more concerning was the revelation that the CCC hired 155 employees without Ministry of Finance approval, leading to a loss of Rs21.6 million, according to audit officials.
"These 155 employees have now been terminated," the secretary claimed. When Aminul Haque asked why the staff were fired after eleven years, the secretary clarified, "These workers were not continuously employedthey were recruited for 89-day terms during each cotton season."