Massive irregularities in Punjab’s first Ramazan package exposed: Saif

PESHAWAR: Advisor to the Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Barrister Dr Muhammad Ali Saif has stated that the audit report has unmasked serious irregularities in Punjab’s first Ramazan package under the leadership of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

Dr Saif said that Maryam Nawaz attempted to replicate the Ramazan package introduced by Ali Amin Gandapur, but in doing so, billions of rupees from the national treasury were squandered.

Referring to the findings of the audit report, Barrister Saif revealed grave financial mismanagement in the 2024 Punjab Ramazan Nigehbaan Package. According to the report, a total of 9,300 ineligible government employees misappropriated ration worth Rs34.6 million, while ration packets worth Rs 1.63 billion failed to reach 441,000 deserving recipients in cities including Lahore, Rahim Yar Khan, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi.

He further noted that due to incorrect data, the national exchequer suffered a loss of Rs1.81 billion. “Around 500,000 ration packets were delivered to incorrect addresses. The critical question now is: if the addresses were incorrect, where did those half a million ration packets go?” Dr Saif questioned.

The report also highlighted negligence by the Punjab Food Authority in ensuring quality standards, and blamed the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and deputy commissioners for failing to verify recipient addresses. Additionally, disorganization in transportation and failure of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to update the list of eligible recipients further aggravated the situation.