KP high-ups brief NAB on wheat purchase worth Rs29 billion

PESHAWAR: Following the new scandal involving imported wheat in the country, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has briefed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Peshawar on the purchase of 0.3 million metric tons of wheat worth Rs29 billion.

The briefing contained the procurement process, the province’s wheat production and its requirements.

Provincial Food Secretary Zarif Al-Maani and his team briefed the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Director-General and officers at the NAB Peshawar head office, sources said.

Provincial officials told NAB officers that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with a population of 40.8 million, will require 5.0 million metric tons of wheat in 2024-25.

However, the province’s estimated wheat production is only 1.5 million metric tons, leading to a projected shortfall of 3.5 million metric tons.

To address this shortfall, they said, the provincial government has decided to purchase wheat from the open markets of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after it was approved by the chief minister and the provincial cabinet on April 18, 2024.

According to KP food department’s documents, wheat procurement centres have been established in 21 districts, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Swabi, Charsadda, Mardan, Malakand, Buner, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Swat, Haripur, Abbottabad, Battagram, Kohistan, Mansehra, Kohat, Hangu, Karak, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, and Dera Ismail Khan. Monitoring committees, led by deputy commissioners and district food controllers, have also been set up to oversee the procurement process.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has set the price of 40 kilograms of wheat at Rs3,900, and has capped the purchase limit from each dealer and farmer at 500 tons to ensure transparency.

Food Secretary of Zarif Al-Maani said that various measures have been taken to make the wheat procurement process transparent, including the inclusion of NAB and anti-corruption officers in the monitoring committees.

He said that purchasing wheat from the open market would save the provincial treasury Rs10 billion. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to purchase 0.6 million metric tons of wheat for the year 2024-25, with 0.3 million metric tons from the open markets of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and another 0.3 million metric tons from the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO).