Mohsin Siddiqui (Chief Reporter)
Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz sanctioned a project aimed at providing 20,000 e-bikes to students in easy installments, to alleviate financial pressure on pupils and curb pollution.
In her statement, Maryam emphasized the necessity of electric bikes in reducing pollution, despite their current limitations such as low mileage and incidents of battery theft. As a solution, the government decided to offer fuel-consuming bikes alongside electric ones, both on convenient installment plans.
To ease the burden on students, the down payment has been reduced to Rs25,000, with monthly installments set to be less than Rs5,000. Distribution of these bikes is scheduled to commence from May 2024.
Additionally, Maryam announced a separate scheme to provide bikes to high-achieving students, responding to a request made by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a previous meeting.
Sharif stressed the importance of keeping the monthly installments minimal, asserting the government’s responsibility to share the financial load of students.
During the cabinet meeting, the provincial government’s plan to provide electric bikes to students on interest-free monthly installments was discussed. The installment for petrol bikes is planned to be less than Rs5,000 per month, while for e-bikes, it will be less than Rs10,000 per month.
In rural areas, a 70% quota has been allocated for male students and 30% for female students. The CM instructed that the application schedule for bikes should be announced before Eid.
