LAHORE, April 23: The Punjab cabinet has decided to seal the record and freeze accounts of all district, tehsil and union councils in the province for a special audit. The cabinet, in its first meeting held on Wednesday, also decided to launch a crackdown on proclaimed offenders in various cities, particularly in Gujrat, and to strictly enforce the ban on serving more than one dish at weddings.

Chief Minister Dost Mohammad Khosa presided over the meeting.

Sources said the cabinet was informed that none of the local councils had followed the standard accounting practice while spending billions of rupees since their inception in 2002, and that the local audit system had ignored prescribed rules and procedures.

No district government had appointed internal auditors, which was mandatory under the Local Government Ordinance.

The sources said the purpose of the special audit would be to recover embezzled funds and punish the corrupt.

The sources added that the local government system could also be declared unviable and a source of corruption and mismanagement.

They said the cabinet also felt that it was necessary to crack down on criminals because Punjab appeared to have become a safe haven for them.

Briefing journalists on the meeting, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan and Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira said that the local councils had become a symbol of corruption.

The audit, to cover the period from 2002 to date, would not affect ongoing schemes.

The ministers said the decision to launch the crackdown on proclaimed offenders had been taken to make the people feel secure. Efficient police officers would be given full opportunity to deliver while those posted on the basis of personal likings would be transferred.

The ministers said the flour crisis was the result of an artificial shortage which would be overcome to a large extent by curbing hoarding and smuggling. Honest and hardworking officials would be posted in border districts to control wheat and flour smuggling.

They appealed to the people and media to identify elements involved in hoarding wheat and flour and said there was a proposal to reward individuals providing such information.

The ministers said the power crisis would be resolved before next summer and steps would be taken to reduce loadshedding.

They said instructions had been issued to review cases registered on political grounds by the previous government so that they could be withdrawn.

The ministers said the caretaker provincial government was a continuation of the PML-Q rule and accused it of making illegal transfers and postings and protecting its cronies. Such steps, they added, were bound to be reversed.