MULTAN City News

Food Dept accused of purchasing substandard jute bags
From Our Correspondent
MULTAN: Agri Forum Pakistan chairman Ibrahim Mughal has accused the Food Department of purchasing substandard jute bags, causing a loss of Rs 1 billion to the national exchequer.
Talking to newsmen here on Monday, he alleged that the department had purchased 25 million bags against the specified lines of threads in each sack. He said that the whole process of purchase of jute bags and procurement needed extensive monitoring to save the interests of the growers otherwise they would be deprived of reasonable incentives. He demanded Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif order an inquiry into the purchase of substandard jute bags. He said that the Public Accounts Committee had already detected discrepancies in the jute bags purchase and the government should take the matter seriously. He alleged that the Food Department officials were planning distribution of gunny bags among the middlemen. He feared involvement of wholesale dealers in the wheat purchase process. He said that former chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had discouraged the purchase of jute bags to avoid misappropriation and made deals with the farmers, which closed the doors of corruption. He demanded the government protect the farmers’ interests.