LAHORE: The Punjab caretaker government on Sunday said corruption allegations made by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi regarding free flour distribution programme were “false and fabricated”.

Just a day ago, Mr Abbasi alleged that Rs20 billion was embezzled during the free floor distribution scheme.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Punjab’s interim Information Minister Amir Mir termed the allegations “false and fabricated”, asserting that the provincial government had provided relief to millions of beneficiaries under the programme. “There wasn’t even an ounce of corruption,” he said, adding that those making the claims had damaged their own credibility.

He claimed that the scheme was the province’s most successful scheme yet under which around 30 million people were provided free flour during Ramazan.

Minister rebuts Shahid Khaqan’s allegations of Rs20bn embezzlement; PTI calls for NAB probe

He highlighted that the free flour scheme was jointly funded by both the federal and provincial governments. He lamented that the programme had become a target due to the internal political differences within the PML-N. He said Mr Abbasi should either apologise or provide evidence to back the allegations.

Separately, the province’s food department has also denied any corruption.

In a statement, Punjab Food Director Shauzeb Saeed said his department had provided free flour to deserving families “in a transparent and impartial way”.

The eligible households were identified with the help of the Benazir Income Support Programme’s data and verified through the Nadra database.

He said the entire process was computerised and all records were safe with the Punjab IT board and district administration, leaving no room for corruption.

Allegations

Mr Abbasi is part of a group of political mavericks from across the political spectrum holding nationwide seminars under the title ‘Reimagining Pakistan’. He was addressing a gathering at Lahore’s Government College University where he levelled the allegations.

“Recently, Rs84bn worth of [free] flour was distributed. I am sorry to say that approximately Rs20bn was looted,” he said of the scheme initiated by PM Shehbaz Sharif and rolled out in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

“Look at it any which way. What has the poor man gotten for whom you spent Rs84bn?” he asked.

‘Cat is out of the bag’

Mr Abbasi’s claims about the free flour programme found support among the rival PTI, whose leaders have long claimed corruption in the scheme saying that a more effective way to provide relief was the direct transfer of cash into poor people’s accounts, just like the party did under its flagship Ehsaas programme.

Referring to the allegations, PTI Punjab additional secretary information Hasaan Khawar said the scheme’s design made it susceptible to corruption.

“The easy and transparent way of cash distribution was deliberately ignored. The cat is out of the bag after Shahid Khaqan [Abbasi]’s allegations. The scheme should be thoroughly audited and NAB should be asked to initiate a probe into it,” he tweeted.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry also demanded the NAB launch an investigation in light of Mr Abbasi’s allegations.

Amjad Mahmood in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023