By Asim Shahzad
LAHORE: Opposition in the Punjab Assembly came down hard on the provincial government during the budget session, citing serious financial irregularities worth over Rs 1 trillion revealed in the Auditor General of Pakistan’s latest audit report for the fiscal year 2024–25.
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Opposition member Farhat Abbas criticized the government, stating that the report exposed massive irregularities in Punjab’s expenditure accounts, including fraud, misuse of funds, overpayments, financial mismanagement, improper procurement, and unauthorized handling of public funds.
According to the report, there were:
• 14 cases of fraud and misuse of funds totaling Rs 3.1 billion
• 50 cases of overpayments and unauthorized payments worth Rs 25.4 billion
• 21 cases of financial mismanagement amounting to Rs 10.6 billion
• 45 cases of mis-procurement involving Rs 43 billion
• 12 cases related to unauthorized deposit of Consolidated Fund receipts in commercial banks, involving a staggering Rs 988 billion
• 24 cases of human resource-related irregularities worth Rs 8.2 billion
• 7 cases of performance shortcomings totaling Rs 3.6 billion
Farhat Abbas said the report also highlighted a potential recovery of Rs 25.46 billion, out of which Rs 2.24 billion had already been received and verified by audit authorities between February 2024 and January 2025.
“The government has already crushed the farmers,” Abbas said on the Assembly floor. “They used to call Usman Buzdar incompetent—this government is Buzdar Plus. They must answer to the people.”
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