Punjab CM Maryam okays 20,000 electric bikes for students on easy installments

LAHORE: The Punjab government Tuesday announced to provide students with 20,000 e-bikes on easy installments, to “trim down the burden on pupils”.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz greenlit the project during her third cabinet meeting in Lahore.

In a statement, Maryam said electric bikes were mandatory to reduce pollution; however, they were currently not suitable for their low mileage and incidents of battery theft.

She said the government had decided to provide fuel-consuming bikes too along with electric bikes on easy installments.

“To reduce the burden on students, the down payment will be reduced to Rs25,000 and the monthly installment will also be less than Rs5,000,” said Maryam adding that the distribution of bikes would begin from May 2024.

She also announced to introduce a separate scheme to give bikes to high achiever students.

The decision regarding provision of bikes to students on easy installments was made on request of former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, which he made earlier in a meeting of the Punjab government asking to increase their number.

“Monthly instalment of bikes for students should be kept minimum, as it is a responsibility of the government to share the financial burden of students,” the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo said on Monday.

The cabinet meeting was apprised about the provincial government's plan of providing electric bikes given to students on monthly instalments without any interest.

Monthly instalment of petrol bike would be less than Rs5,000 per month and instalment of e-bike would be less than Rs10,000 per month, the forum was told.

In villages, 70% quota was reserved for male students and 30% for female students. On this occasion, the CM ordered that schedule for receiving applications for bikes should be announced before Eid.