Pakistan: Punjab govt to conduct independent audit of free flour scheme over ‘loot’ allegations

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Updated: May 07, 2023 03:46 IS

Islamabad (Pakistan), May 7 (ANI): Punjab acting chief minister Mohsin Naqvi announced Saturday that it will conduct an independent audit of the free flour scheme in Punjab in the interest of “transparency and financial prudence” after the unfounded allegations of some Pakistan Leader of the Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Dawn reported.
On May 6, Mohsin Naqvi said: “We have decided to conduct an immediate audit through the Auditor General Pakistan office, and simultaneously through a private audit firm of international reputation,” according to the Dawn report.
He further said that a request was sent to the president of the National Accountability Office to verify if any “nefarious element” did anything related to the allegations. Punjab The decision of the interim CM is given after the denunciations of the leader of the PML-N.
PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had alleged that Pakistani Rs 20 billion was looted during the free flour distribution program which was first started in Punjab, according to the news report. She made the statement last week during a seminar at the Government College University of Lahore.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had said, “Recently, Rs 84,000 crore worth of (free) flour was distributed. I am sorry to say that approximately Rs 20,000 crore was looted. Look at it any way. What if the poor man for whom spent Rs 84,000 crore get?,” Alba reported.

Abbasi further said that it was not possible to keep the promises within the current system of government. He called for a change in the entire system, further saying that “it has become so corrupt that it cannot deliver, either in the Center or in the provinces.”
Although Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had not singled out the Punjab government. However, PunjabChina’s acting Information Minister Amir Mir called Abbasi’s accusations “false and fabricated.” Meanwhile, the food department of Punjab The province has denied any misappropriation, according to the news report.
In March, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced free wheat flour for the “poorest of the poor” during Ramzan, Dawn reported. The scheme was first implemented in Punjab and then in other parts of Pakistan. Sharif had ordered the authorities to plan a strategy to supply poor families with flour as soon as possible. (ME TOO)