Daily Times

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) to provide 10-year agricultural research records.

Chairing the meeting, PAC Chairman Noor Alam Khan decided that the committee would not review the audit paras of the NFS&R ministry as it did not conduct the Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC). The PAC chairman directed the authorities concerned to carry out the DAC immediately otherwise stern actions to be taken against the responsible.

He urged the authorities to conduct proper research on the agriculture sector which was the backbone of the national economy.

MNA Syed Hussain Tariq apprised the committee that Pakistan was an agricultural country lamenting that the NFS&R ministry was not playing a pivotal role in conducting the research work.

He claimed that the ministry had not given new cotton seeds to the farmers to enhance production, and urged it to provide new cotton seeds to the farmers. MNA Wajiha Qamar informed the committee that despite being an agricultural country, we were importing pulses and other edible items from various countries.

Noor Alam Khan said there were many PhDs working in the ministry but they were getting hefty salaries without conducting any research on the agriculture sector. The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) officials apprised the committee, “Our scientists had already conducted research on wheat, cotton, strawberry, olive and others to increase their crops production.”

The PAC meeting was attended by MNAs Wajiha Qamar, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Syed Hussain Tariq, Chaudhry Muhammad Barjees Tahir, Sheikh Rohale Asghar, Khursheed Ahmed Junejo, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, and senators Mushahid Hussain Syed and Saleem Mandviwalla.