The Punjab government on Monday issued a clarification statement regarding two allegedly erroneous reports by the media regarding the Sasti Roti Scheme.
A news item claimed that the Auditor General Pakistan (AGP)’s report has stated the cost of the Sasti Roti Scheme to be Rs 2.5 billion, whereas its actual cost is Rs 6.32 billion. Further, the scheme is one of five different items comprising the Punjab government’s total subsidy on food of Rs 24.169 billion for 2009-10.
A second news item claimed that a report of the AGP had pointed out the issuance of more than 1000 bags of flour to ghost tandoors in a district of the Punjab, however, the statement clarified that the Audits department had only reported the number of ghost tandoors whose permits were cancelled by the Punjab government in 2009-10.
Further, the statement said that the AGP’s Audit Reports were essentially focused on the Principal Accounting Officers of respective ministries and departments and these are discussed in the meetings of respective Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as per schedule.
