Third Punjab minister summoned to explain sugar subsidies

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 06 Jan 2023

The National Accountability Bureau has summoned Punjab Minister for Irrigation Mohsin Leghari in the inquiry into Pakistan’s sugar crisis.

The minister has been instructed to appear on May 4 with a record of sugar mills that were given subsidies during the fiscal year 2018 and 2019.

A joint investigation team of the bureau will question Leghari.

Earlier this week, NAB summoned Punjab Industries, Commerce, Investment, and Skill Development Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and Food Minister Samiullah Chaudhry in the case as well.

Pakistan’s sugar crisis

Last year, an inquiry commission made stunning revelations about the way sugar barons had cheated farmers, benefited from subsidies, and created conditions so that the price of sugar could be higher.

The sugar industry manipulated the cost of production to maximize its gains and claim a subsidy. A one-rupee manipulation in the cost of production translates into a windfall gain of Rs5.2 billion. In the last five years, the industry has been manipulating the cost by Rs10, Rs12, and Rs15 each year.

The committee identified three groups that benefited the most as they took advantage of more than half of the total subsidy and sold their produce in the local market after prices soared. On the top of the list was PTI’s Jahangir Tareen.

On March 22, the Federal Investigation Agency filed two FIRs against Tareen and accused him of committing fraud amounting to Rs3.14 billion. The cases also named Tareen’s son Ali Tareen and son-in-law Waleed Akbar Faruki.