The interim government of Punjab on Sunday rejected the corruption allegations made by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi regarding free flour scheme which was first rolled out in the province.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, while addressing a seminar at Lahore’s Government College University (GCU), alleged that Rs 20 billion was embezzled in execution of the free flour scheme. He, however, made general statement and did not specify any regional government.
Interim Information Minister of Punjab Amir Mir termed the allegations “false and fabricated” ruling out any corruption in the free flour shceme.
He, in a news statement, urged the PML-N leader to either apologize publically or provide evidence if there was any.
The provincial government had provided relief to millions of beneficiaries under the programme, he said, adding there was not even an ounce of corruption.
He said those who had made such claims had harmed their own credibility.
The Punjab minister claimed that the free flour distribution programme was the province’s most successful scheme yet under which approximately 30 million people were provided free flour during the month of Ramazan.
Mir highlighted the free flour scheme was jointly funded by both the federal and the provincial government. He lamented that the programme had become a target due to the internal political differences within the PML-N.
“The caretaker Punjab government believes in transparency and impartiality and can give an account of every penny regarding the flour scheme. Therefore, no one can accuse it of corruption,” Mir said.
A day earlier, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb alos lauded efforts of the government officials for ensuring transparency in distribution of free flour among poor during the holy month of Ramazan.
She, in a tweet, said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally monitored execution of free flour scheme which was “historic”.
“Amid inflation, free flour was distributed among hundreds of thousands poor people in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Islamabad during Ramazan with full honesty and transparency. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself monitored [the scheme] and reviewed [arrangements for flour distribution] by visiting different cities,” she tweeted.
“The administrative officers and staff worked day and night to make the landmark scheme successful which is laudable,” she added to her tweet.
رمضان میں پنجاب،خیبرپختونخوا , سندھ اور اسلام آباد میں کروڑوں غریبوں کو اس مہنگائی میں پوری شفافیت اور ایمان داری سے مفت آٹا فراہم ہوا، وزیراعظم شہباز شریف نے خود نگرانی کی، شہروں کے دورے کرکے جائزہ لیا۔ تاریخی سکیم کی کامیابی میں انتظامی افسران اور عملے نے دن رات محنت کی جو…
— Marriyum Aurangzeb (@Marriyum_A) April 29, 2023
