“We have compiled the entire report and have found around one million bags ‘missing’ from the total stock,” said a senior official of the department.
Sindh Food Director Talib Magsi disagreed. “These are [baseless] allegations against the food department and our officials are not involved in any such menace,” he maintained emphatically.
When asked about the official internal report on the shortage of wheat bags in several districts, which was submitted by officials of his own department, Magsi replied: “It was a typing mistake.”
He said the department has corrected the mistake already. However, he admitted that in Karachi a shortage has been noted in a few warehouses-turned-procurement centres. “We have asked owners of the warehouses to explain where the missing bags went. They are liable to compensate us for any shortage in the stock,” he said.
On the other hand, some officials said that the recent physical verification survey carried out by the food department revealed that hundreds of bags have vanished from godowns in a number of areas, including Naushero Feroz, Sukkur, Ghokti, Sanghar, Larkana, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Karachi.
According to the district-wise stock report, 1.2 million metric tons of wheat stock is present in the godowns. Due to a lack of storage, however, the department moved more than half of the stock into rented warehouses, which have been declared procurement centres.
A letter addressed to the food secretary dated October 25, 2010, said that inspecting officers have discovered that 108,872 bags, each weighing 100 kg, and 37,000 bags, weighing 50 kg each, are missing from godowns in Naushero Feroz district. Earlier, the inspecting officer, Qazi Rafique, and district food controller, south, found out that there was a massive shortage of wheat stock.
Every four months, the department carries out a physical survey of its stocks. The survey report of the central district Karachi available with The Express Tribune stated that 53,587 gunny bags were stored at the procurement centre of Jawaid Flour Mill but the inspection team found only 33,288 bags there — 20,299 bags were missing. “There is no record about the missing bags,” said the report submitted by the deputy director of food for the Karachi region. Similarly, 27,657 bags were supposed to be stocked at the Itehad Flour Mill but a visit to the centre revealed there were no bags there at all.
Out of the 5,050 bags stocked at al Karam Flour Mill, only 3,855 bags were present but the remaining 1,195 bags were missing. The report also said that 1,304 bags were supposed to be available at the procurement centre of Sar Taj Flour Mill, but in reality, not a single bag was stored there and the number of bags missing at the Modern Flour Mill stood at 2,345.
The district-wise report said that in Sukkur region, there was 607,628 metric tons of stock as of December 7, out of which 3,604 metric tons went missing without any record. In Sanghar district, 1,395 metric tons wheat was short.
The food secretary was unable to comment because he was in a meeting. Other officials of the department, however, rebuffed the allegations of missing bags and said the stock was untouched.
“The food department has a total of 1.2 million metric tons of stock in the province, which means we have 10.2 million gunny bags. The missing one million bags will cost us millions of rupees in losses, which we cannot afford,” claimed Magsi.
Around 90 per cent of wheat is released to mill owners at official rates. The owners sell the flour to the market at subsidised rates. The price of each 100 kg gunny bag is Rs2,550. Each mill has a determined quota of wheat, which it receives from the government. Since the provincial government does not have a proper storage facility, it has converted warehouses of flour mills into procurement centres. The government pays rent to these owners in return for the space. “We will recover every missing bag from the owner of these warehouses,” said Magsi.
Majeed Nizamani, the president of the Sindh Abadgar Board, however, assigns the blame on the food department. He said that some officials are selling off these bags. “The department hires watchmen and appoints its staff at the centres and godowns. How will owners of the centres get the opportunity to steal these bags?” he asked.
However, the mill owners too are not completely innocent. At least 40 per cent of these owners end up smuggling the wheat given to them by the government.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2010.
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