Cash strapped govt: 130 school busses standing idle for want of registration

FDE awaits funds to get licence plates from excise dept

ISLAMABAD: Registration of 130 buses meant for the state-owned education institutions in the federal capital could not be completed because of unavailability of funds.

The vehicles procured to transport government schools’ children cannot ply on the road until they get number plates.

The buses have been provided to the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) under the PM’s Education Reforms launched during the PML-N government.

FDE has written a letter to the ministry of federal education requesting registration of buses and release of funds amounting to Rs67 million. According to sources, Minister for Federal Education Shafqat Mehmood in a briefing said that registration of buses could not be made due to shortage of funds.

The arrangement, he said, requires funds in excess of Rs45 million, which the PTI government cannot arrange.

Meanwhile the ministry has also not released salaries of the bus drivers and conductors for the past six months for which it requires Rs22 million.

Sources said that the work for the buses has been delayed due to dissolution of the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) ministry. The buses could not be registered until now because the excise and taxation department has demanded Rs45 million for the registration. A senior officer of FDE told Daily Express that the summary pertaining to provision of funds for bus registration has been forwarded to the ministry while the Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood has assured that he would exercise personal interest in getting the funds released from the ministry of finance.

The project for buses was started as part of PM’s Education Reforms but the authorities neither released funds nor made appointments on posts of drivers and conductors.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2018.