Power Minister Awais Leghari on Sunday said that “strict action” had been taken against a Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) line superintendent after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif complained of financial corruption.

In an X post on Saturday, Asif said he had sought a former official’s help for the repair of a transformer in his domestic employee’s village.

The minister alleged, “[Lesco] employees took Rs80,000 to repair the transformer. The villagers collected donations to pay the Lesco employees, but they were not given a receipt.

“You can imagine the rest. This happens even when a former power minister, who is currently a cabinet member, intervenes. What will be a common consumer facing?”

He reiterated that while the villagers had paid the amount, “Lesco refuses to give them a receipt”.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Leghari referred to Asif’s statement and said, “The tweet is a source of pride for us as we believe in self-accountability.” He added that “strict action” has been taken against the relevant line superintendent after Asif’s post.

“This is a part of our self-accountability. It’s the public representative’s job to highlight people’s problems […] Even if anyone raises questions from within our cabinet, we address them publicly and will continue trying to improve our performance in the future,” he added.

When a reporter remarked that almost all common people faced this kind of corruption, Leghari denied it emphatically.

“It is absurd and totally wrong to say that everybody goes through this”.

Leghari also acknowledged that while corruption existed within Discos, “the prevalence cannot be more than 10-15 per cent”. He added that the ministry had a complaint system and “will improve with time”.

Additional input from Khaleeq Kiani