The UK Department of Transport recently revealed information on how the government car service has tried to cut costs
KARACHI: The UK Department of Transport recently revealed information on how the government car service has tried to cut costs. Since 2012, the number of UK government cars has been reduced from 136 to 85. These 85 vehicles have been placed in the departmental car pools and not allocated to the ministers. The prime minister is the only one who has a dedicated car. All other ministers and officials must make a requisition and give a reason for each official journey whose time and mileage is recorded and accessible to public. Travel from home to office and back is not considered an official duty and must be managed by ministers on their own — by use of bus, cycle or train.
Although gasping for every penny, the rulers of Pakistan have wastefully amassed an unbelievable number of government vehicles — over 22,000 of them only in the province of Sindh. Thousands of these cars are neither registered nor do they pay any road tax. Almost the entire fleet is used by friends and family for unlawful, personal, family and recreational use.
Can I appeal to the federal and provincial governments to retrieve all government vehicles and place them in departmental car pools? At least 60% of all government cars could be easily auctioned and money returned to the state exchequer. Officials must make their own arrangements for travel from home to office and back. Every official usage of a government vehicle from the car pool must be requisitioned, reasoned, recorded and placed on a website.
Naeem Sadiq
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2018.
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