ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday approved a revised structure for the public under the fuel relief scheme currently in vogue across the country, expanding it to include more two- and three-wheelers, and easing weekly limits to offer motorists more flexibility in how they use the support.
The prime minister, who is currently abroad on an official visit, directed that motorcycles, rickshaws and Qingqi rickshaws up to 20 years old should also be included in the scheme.
“All motorcycles, rickshaws and Qingqi rickshaws registered on or after January 1, 2006, will be eligible for registration under the fuel relief scheme,” a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said.
In addition, two- and three-wheelers can now benefit from a concession of Rs500 in one week without quantity limits.
According to details, where each token previously entitled the holder to five litres of fuel, now people will be able to obtain a token that entitles them to a Rs500 discount. Each token remains valid for a period of seven days from issuance.
Eligible citizens will now be able to avail a maximum concession of Rs2,000 per month, through multiple token redemptions According to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, around 24 million people are currently benefitting from the fuel relief scheme.
Addressing a press conference, the minister detailed steps being taken to ensure that the subsidy scheme is implemented smoothly, saying that parliamentarians and political teams were assisting citizens through facilitation camps that had been formed across the four provinces, as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, AJK and Islamabad.
Mr Chaudhry said he had personally visited several facilitation camps in the capital, which were being approached by a large number of people, whose feedback and complaints were being conveyed directly to the teams supervising the package.
The minister conceded that some initial issues had emerged in the implementation of the scheme, particularly regarding the payment mechanism for petrol pump owners, but these had been resolved after meetings with the All Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association.
Talking about the austerity measures imposed by the Centre, he said they were meant to reduce government expenditure. Except for vehicles engaged in operational field activities and those of the defence services, fuel allocations for government vehicles had been reduced by 50 per cent, he said.
Mr Chaudhry also said that restrictions had also been imposed on new purchases of government vehicles and other items, while official dinners and lunches had been curtailed. He added official foreign trips would not be government-sponsored, and where an official trip was necessary, economy-class travel would be used.
Meanwhile, the provinces showed little movement on the question of austerity measures on Friday. Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seem to still be mulling the measures.
However, a senior Sindh government official told Dawn that the decision to revise market and restaurant closure timings in line with the federal government notification is likely to be announced next week.
“The government does not want early closure [of markets] this weekend to facilitate traders,” he added.
