Free atta scheme: ECC approves Rs985.43m spent by USC in Ramazan

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved Rs985.43 million spent by the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) under the prime minister’s free atta scheme during last Ramazan (2022-23).

The meeting presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar considered a summary of the Ministry of Industries and Production on the provision of free atta under the prime minister’s free atta initiative.

The meeting was informed that Ramzan Relief Package 2023 for the sale of 19 items at subsidized rates by the USC was approved by the ECC in March 2023 and ratified by the federal cabinet in its meeting on March 9, 2023.

Accordingly, an amount of Rs4,997.20 million was released by the Finance Division to the USC

The ECC was further informed that as per minutes of the meeting chaired by the prime minister on 13th March 2023, free atta was decided to be distributed to 185,984 families of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) registered as the B1SP beneficiaries.

Subsequently, the managing director USC in April 2023 conveyed to a committee that three bags of 10kg atta will be provided to the BISP-verified beneficiary registered under Islamabad Capital Territory and the rest of Pakistan. The scheme was launched on 18th March 2023 and continued till 16th April 2023.

The Ministry of Industries and Production stated that the managing director USC has verified that the initiative was launched with an expenditure of Rs985.43 million. As no separate funds were allocated for the supply of free/gift atta bags at USC outlets, the amount spent for this initiative was adjusted from Rs2,186.72 million allocated for the distribution of subsidized atta under the Ramazan Relief Package-2023 by the USC.

The MD USC has proposed to seek approval of the ECC for the amount of Rs985.43 million already spent by the USC under the prime minister’s free atta scheme during Ramzan 2023 out of the amount of Rs2,186.72 million previously approved by the ECC and ratified by the Cabinet for the supply of atta at subsidised rate at the USC during Ramzan 2023.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023