The new budget draft of Punjab is ready but the old payments of farmers have not been made yet, while it has been revealed that more than Rs 20 billion of the farmers’ development fund has been illegally withheld.
According to the report, the Punjab Finance Department has withheld Rs 20 billion 335 million allocated for the development of sugarcane, the Auditor General’s report 2024-25 has exposed the scandal.
According to the report, more than twenty billion funds have been illegally withheld, the audit report has declared the financial scandal as a blatant violation of the Punjab Sugarcane Development Cess Rules 1964.
The Finance Department did not release the billions of rupees collected for the development of sugarcane to the concerned District Coordination Officers, as per the rules, this fund was to be spent on development projects at the district level.
Without the approval of the Finance Department, the District Accounts Officers of Faisalabad and Vehari made illegal payments of Rs 5.52 crore and Rs 2.86 crore respectively.
According to the audit report, the 2% collection charges imposed on collection as per the rules were not determined in the budget itself, the withheld funds of more than Rs 20 billion should be immediately transferred to the relevant district development funds, the illegal payments of Faisalabad and Vehari should be investigated, the money should be recovered and action should be taken against those responsible.
