Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar is expected to appear before the inquiry commission investigating sugar crisis.
According to details, CM Usman Buzdar has been summoned by the inquiry commission to testify on the allegations accusing him of giving Rs 3 billion in subsidies to sugar mill owners in 2019.
The sugar crisis inquiry commission is investigating the allocation of illegal subsidies to sugar mill owners in the last five years, and had released a statement on Tuesday regarding the summoning of CM Punjab.
“Yes, the commission has summoned him on Wednesday (today). The commission wants his input on sugar subsidy matters,” said an official of the inquiry commission.
The inquiry commission is expected to question Usman Buzdar about giving Rs11.8 billion in freight subsidies to 24 sugar mills in Punjab from 2017 to 2019. Furthermore, the inquiry commission will also inquire about rewarding Rs 2.5 billion in subsidies for 15 sugar mills in Punjab in 2019, which also includes PTI leader Jahangir Tarin’s JK Sugar Mills Pvt Ltd, which received Rs 5 million from Punjab government last year.
It is to be noted that earlier, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had appeared before the inquiry commission on Tuesday, and recorded his statement regarding the decisions taken by Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) when he was serving as the country’s finance minister back in 2018.
