Officials have confirmed that the interim government in Punjab has approved the purchase of over 200 vehicles for bureaucrats in the province, costing Rs2.33 billion.
ISLAMABAD: According to viral posts on Facebook and Twitter with thousands of interactions, the caretaker government in Punjab is allegedly set to spend Rs2.33 billion to acquire more than 200 new vehicles for bureaucrats.
The claim is true.
Claim
On July 23, a Twitter user made a statement that Pakistan “barely survives.” Despite these difficult financial conditions, the Punjab government ordered new vehicles worth Rs2.3 billion for bureaucrats.
Another Twitter user also shared a similar claim. He stated, “Punjab government to spend Rs2.3 billion on the purchase of 200 new luxury vehicles for officers.”
At the time of writing, the tweet had garnered 36 retweets and 35 likes. The message seems to have resonated with a modest number of users on Twitter.
Fact
Officials have confirmed that the interim government in Punjab has indeed approved the purchase of over 200 vehicles for bureaucrats in the province, at a cost of Rs2.33 billion.
According to details providedby a senior finance department official in Punjab (who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter), the additional commissioners in the province will receive Toyota Corolla 1.6 Altis CVT each, the additional deputy commissioner (ADC) general of each district will be allotted a Yaris ATIV 1.3L, and the assistant commissioners (AC) of each tehsil will receive a luxury double cabin 4*4 Revo-G M/T.
The official further clarified that the notification circulating online regarding the car purchase was “fake” and not issued by his department. However, he acknowledged that the information in the alleged communiquĂ© was accurate. He stated, “My department has prepared a notification on this matter, and we will publish it soon.”
After placing the orders, a total of 209 new cars will be provided for official use, distributed among 146 assistant commissioners (tehsil), 36 additional deputy commissioners (district), and 27 additional commissioners (division).
Shafqat Ullah Mushtaq, the secretary of the Board of Revenue (BOR) Punjab, has confirmed that the BOR will purchase the vehicles from the budget for the year 2023-24.
When questioned about the reason for acquiring more vehicles for bureaucrats, especially after the elected government of Chief Minister Parvez Elahi bought 93 luxury vehicles, including those for additional deputy commissioners (ADCs), the official clarified that last year’s purchase was solely for ADCs of the revenue department.
ADCs in the finance, general, and coordination offices did not receive any vehicles at that time. Now, the ADCs (general) are being provided vehicles to address their needs.
