Hike in prices of sugar, flour: ‘Govt must tell who is minting money from sugar’

ISLAMABAD: The government came under fire in the National Assembly (NA) on Thursday for unprecedented flour and sugar crisis in the country as the opposition parties demanded a probe into an increase in a price hike and shortage of two commodities created by the mafia.

Parliamentary Leader of the PML-N Khawaja Muhammad Asif and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to expose mafia within his party’s ranks which was responsible for flour and sugar crises. “The people should know as to who has minted billions of rupees for illegal export of wheat, flour, ingredients and sugar and the considerable increase in prices,” Khawaja Asif said. The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan pointed out that the PTI government came into being after a movement of over 20 years and it did not want to waste the hard work for the sake of a couple of people. He agreed with Khawaja Asif that those responsible for the crisis should be taken to task. “Imran Khan rightly says that there is mafia but I question whether mafia was created in a matter of 16 months,” he said, adding that mafia was patronised in the past. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan did not establish any mill.

On suggestions from the government and Opposition leaders, the Speaker Asad Qaisar decided to start a debate from Tuesday next on flour and sugar crisis, price hike and other problems being faced by the masses. He directed the relevant ministers and parliamentary secretaries to be present in the House during the debate. The PML-N leader pointed out that 45% of total sugar in the country is produced by mills owned by the PTI leaders. “It is a fact that 45% of sugar in the country is produced by PTI people while sugar mills of Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari are closed,” he said. He said the prime minister himself had stated that he was surrounded by the mafia but was not ready to name those elements. “This mafia in your ranks will shatter your government if not taken to task,” he said. He suggested that a multi-partisan committee of the House should be constituted to probe into sugar and flour observing that there has been a sharp increase in prices of the two essential commodities in the last six months. “These are basic problems of the people who elected us to the Parliament and we are duty-bound to safeguard their rights,” he said.

Khawaja Asif demanded of the Speaker Asad Qaisar to dedicate a day next week to hold a discussion in the House on basic problems being faced by the masses. Referring to a news story appearing in a section of print media, the PML-N leader said wheat and flour were being taken from Punjab to Peshawar from where it was being exported to Jalalabad and other areas of the neighbouring country. “It is right of the people to know as to who is looting them and making billions of rupees,” he said. He observed that after all those were politicians who would be taken to task. “Today we are in trouble and tomorrow it will be your turn,” he said regretting that Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Salman Rafique have been under custody for over a year but no wrongdoing has proven against them and same was the case with Hamza Shahbaz and others.

He also criticised the government for what he said was its negligence in failure to remove Pakistani students from part of China where coronavirus had affected a large portion of the population. He pointed out that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lankan governments through special flights brought back their citizens from China. “Parents of hundreds of stranded Pakistani students are worried about the health of their children,” he said. Khawaja Asif, however, said the Pakistani students affected by the virus could be retained in China for better treatment.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said the government was ready to form a special committee and hold a debate on the flour and sugar prices and other multiple issues. Ali Muhammad Khan offered that the probe into corruption should start from him and the minister for communication, saying that he could claim that there was no addition to his property and bank balance since he won the first general elections in 2013. He also suggested that each and every member of the Parliament since 1985 should be included in the scope of the special committee.

The PPP parliamentarian and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that the same country which used to export wheat during his party’s last tenure was facing flour and wheat crisis. Referring to a statement of the prime minister, he said if Imran Khan could not make both ends meet with Rs200,000 salary then how it was possible for a family to spend the whole month with an income of Rs20,000 to Rs25,000. “I can say with challenge that Ali Muhammad Khan cannot face people of his constituency in the prevailing crisis,” he said. He recalled that the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet imposed a ban on the export of wheat but the export of 'Maida flour' and 'Sooji' started, the next week. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf observed that the government was ashamed of naming the mafia in its ranks offering that the task of exposing and taking to task the mafia members should be assigned to the opposition if the government is unable to fulfill its responsibilities. “We will nab them and take them to task in a matter of seven days,” he said.

The Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak said the government was ready to hold a discussion in the House on every issue asking the chair to fix a time for the purpose. The opposition, however, did not allow the Communication Minister Murad Saeed to respond to Opposition members’ allegations as Agha Rafiullah pointed out lack of quorum in the House forcing adjournment of proceedings till Friday.

Earlier, the Speaker snubbed Agha Rafiullah for speaking loudly when he was not given the floor. The Speaker asked him to follow rules and restrict himself to limits. The Speaker directed the Ministry of Health to give complete data of Pakistani students in China and plans for their return home. The Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr Nausheen Hamid informed the House that the process to bring Pakistani students back from China had already started on Monday morning. She said that presently over 28,000 Pakistanis are present in China, saying that an SOP for the screening of those returning from China had also been devised.