TAHIR AMIN

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the transfer of administrative control of Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) and cotton related matters back to Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R).

Secretary for Textile Division, Hassan Iqbal confirmed this while talking to Business Recorder. The secretary said that cotton has been transferred to the MNFS&R, with the approval of federal cabinet which met with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi here on Tuesday.

Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Sartaj Aziz-led committee had recommended transferring the administrative control of PCCC back to MNFS&R to strengthen public-private partnership in cotton research through increased funding from the public sector and implement pro-cotton policies more successfully.

Sources told Business Recorder that the committee had presented its recommendations to federal cabinet, however due to one or other reason the approval was delayed.

According to the Sartaj Aziz-led committee recommendations, the PCCC is financed through a cotton cess which is levied presently @ Rs 50 per bale. It has established cotton research institutes in Multan and Sakrand while seven research stations are located in four provinces.

The PCCC achieved very positive results during the period up to 1990, but in the recent past due to various factors, outside its control, the PCCC has not been able to tackle the issue that led to a virtual stagnation in cotton production.

The textile industry which pays the cotton cess has expressed serious concern over the performance of the PCCC and filed a petition in the court against the cess. It has restricted its contribution to the PCCC budget in 2016-17 through cotton cess from Rs625 million to Rs298 million. The PCCC managed the budget through its accumulated savings but these would be exhausted soon if full cotton cess due is not paid during the current year.

The Aziz-led committee recommended that the high-level committee already set up in 2016 to make recommendations for restructuring the PCCC on the basis of a report by M/s AF Ferguson should be asked to complete its work by June 2018.

On the basis of this assurance, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) should be requested to withdraw its petition from the court and pay its cotton cess arrears, which are only 0.15 percent of the gross value of the cotton. The principal aim of this restructuring exercise would be to turn its two main cotton research institutions at Multan and Sakrand into centers of excellence which they had been two decades ago.

The present budget of the PCCC is around Rs700 million. A major portion of it is being spent on salaries. The number of staff members of the PCCC is 750 and only 20 percent are scientists. Such a staff structure cannot highly impact the research output. A ban on fresh administrative recruitment in the PCCC is, therefore, necessary until the requirements of researchers have been identified and met, the committee recommendations maintained.

Cotton as a subject and the PCCC were under the administrative control of the erstwhile Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Under the 18th Amendment, the ministry was abandoned and the subjects of cotton and PCCC were transferred to the Ministry of Textile Industry. In October 2011, however, Ministry of Food Security and Research was recreated and the administrative control was transferred to the new ministry. The Ministry of Textile Industry protested and submitted a summary emphasizing that cotton production and performance of the textile industry are inter-dependent and the control of PCCC should remain with the Ministry of Textile Industry. The recommendation was approved by the then prime minister on November 15, 2011.

As the cotton crisis has deepened in recent years and the performance of the PCCC has come under a sharper focus, the Ministry of National Food Security & Research has proposed in its latest summary dated December 19, 2017 that the administrative control of the PCCC should be transferred back to it as it is responsible for all matters relating to research and extension services of various crops, including cotton.

The summary highlighted that in order to ensure the integrated planning of national cropping pattern and conduct a cohesive research and development program, it is logical that the major cash crop of Pakistan should also remain in the field of overall agricultural productivity system.

“The recommendations of the committee to strengthen public private partnership in cotton research through increased funding from the public sector and more pro-cotton policies in the overall policy framework can be implemented more successfully if the administrative control of PCCC is transferred back to the Ministry of National Food Security & Research,” the final recommendations maintained.