Fact-check: Punjab govt did not approve Rs40 million grant for ministers' makeup
Ahmad Iqbal, the section officer of Cabinet I, whose signature supposedly appears on the document, told Geo Fact Check that the notification is fake.
Updated Wednesday Jan 21 2026
A notification circulating on social media claims that the government of Punjab has approved a special grant of Rs40 million to cover the makeup expenses of two women ministers in the provincial cabinet.
This claim is false. The notification is fabricated.
Claim
The purported notification, dated January 12 and allegedly issued by the Implementation and Coordination Wing of the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) of the Punjab government, states that Rs40,000,000 has been allocated for the personal makeup and presentation expenses of Senior Minister Punjab Marriyum Aurangzeb and Information Minister Azma Bokhari.
The document appears to bear the signature of the section officer of Cabinet I of the Implementation and Coordination Wing of S&GAD.
Similar examples of the claim can be seen here, here, and here.
An authentic notification issued by S&GAD, showing a notification number.
Fact
Officials and independent analysis confirm that the notification circulating online was never issued by the Punjab government.
Ahmad Iqbal, the section officer of Cabinet I, whose signature supposedly appears on the document, told Geo Fact Check that the notification is fake.
“This notification does not bear my signature, and Cabinet I is not authorised to approve such financial grants (related to ministers),” he said. “There is a formal procedure for these approvals, and it is Cabinet II that signs off on such grants, not Cabinet I of the Implementation and Coordination Wing of the Services and General Administration Department.”
The document also contains several discrepancies suggesting it was self-generated. It lacks a notification number, a standard feature of official communications from Cabinet I, and it does not follow the formatting, structural, or stylistic conventions normally used by S&GAD.
An original notification from Cabinet I can be seen below for comparison.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has also called the online notification fake in a post on her X account.
In addition, Attestiv, an AI-content detection and digital media forensics tool, gave the document a Tamper Score of 88, indicating a high probability that it was generated using AI tools.
Verdict: The notification claiming a special grant for the ministers’ makeup expenses is fabricated and not issued by the Punjab government.
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