SWABI: A question is doing the rounds these days about the ownership of research centres belonging to the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) after the federal government’s decision to transfer the organisation’s control to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The board possesses properties spread over 484 kanals in KP, 654 kanals in Punjab and 160 kanals in Balochistan. It has no assets in Sindh.

In KP, the PTB has a sprawling office and other facilities in Peshawar’s Hayatabad area, research stations in Mardan and Mansehra and a model farm in Buner.

In Punjab, the board has a 400-kanal estate in Jampur, research stations in Okara and Gujarat, and a zonal office spread over two canals at Lahore’s Gulberg area.

The board’s sole property in Balochistan is a research station in Pishin.

In addition, it has numerous vehicles and an enviable infrastructure. The total number of sanctioned posts is 394, of which only 240 are functional. The other 154 are vacant.

Former employees get pensions from the board, and PTB officials claim that it is the only institution in the country financially strong and easily meets its expenditures.

Ayaz Khan, a former member of the PTB’s board of directors, told Dawn that the properties mentioned above were purchased out of money collected through the Federal Tobacco Cess (FTC), with 99pc collection coming from KP and just 1pc from the rest of the country.

In 2024, the FTC rate was 15pc per kg.

The source contended that all PTB assets belong to KP and should be handed to the provincial government.

“The federal government cannot sell or occupy the PTB’s assets, and if so, it would deepen the rivalry between the coalition government in the centre and the PTI-led government in KP,” the source emphasised.

‘Safeguarding KP’s interests’

Discussions with senior functionaries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa showed a consensus that it was the KP “administration’s responsibility to safeguard the province’s interests”, but if it failed, the government would have to “pay a heavy price for its slackness”.

Another source stressed the need to form a KP Tobacco Board as purchases for the current season would begin soon.

“Only four months are left before the start of the purchasing season. I don’t know how the provincial government will complete the entire process on time,” the source questioned.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025