Caretaker minister calls ex-PM Abbasi’s allegations of Rs20b corruption “false and fabricated,” but Punjab claims the free flour scheme was open and honest.
The PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi claimed that Rs20 billion was stolen from the state-run free flour distribution campaign, but the caretaker administration of Punjab shot it down on Sunday.
The former prime minister made this statement at a ceremony in Lahore on Saturday, saying that the political leadership must present a clear vision for the system to function successfully.
He then claimed that approximately Rs20 billion, out of a total of Rs84 billion, had been stolen during the distribution of free flour.
In a recent event, Rs84 billion worth of flour was given away for free. I regret to inform you that around Rs20 billion was stolen,” the PML-N stalwart remarked. In addition, he questioned whether or not the impoverished were getting anything of value for their donations.
He blamed the country’s issues on the ineffectiveness of the coalition’s leadership. He went on to say that now even those who were not competent leaders were in positions of authority.
Abbasi remarked that the country’s problems may be solved by electing more capable politicians. Without judicial and administrative reforms, he argued, the country could not advance.
Amir Mir, the provincial information minister for the interim Punjab administration, called Abbasi’s claims of corruption “false and fabricated,” even though Abbasi did not directly implicate the caretaker government in his statement.
Mir claimed that not one penny of the free flour initiative had been corrupted, and that those who claimed otherwise were merely hurting their own reputations. He insisted that the program was the most effective in Punjab’s history, helping 30 million people who needed it.
“Politicizing it is totally unjustified,” he continued, “because both the federal and provincial governments contributed funds for the [free flour] scheme.” Mir also suggested that Abbasi offer an apology or evidence.
He was adamant that the Punjab caretaker government was innocent of any allegations of corruption. “The [caretaker Punjab] government is ready to be held accountable for every penny spent,” he said.
During Ramadan, millions of poor people in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Islamabad were given free flour, as confirmed by Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday night.
The Prime Minister oversaw the distribution of flour. To keep an eye on things, he traveled to different cities,” she explained. She lauded the “historic” scheme’s achievement, which was made possible by the relentless efforts of administrative officers.
In a similar incident, Fawad Chaudhry, a former information minister and senior vice president of the PTI, has requested that the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigate the charges made by Abbasi and bring the temporary Punjab administration to justice.
