Employment scheme: 90% of youth employment vehicles in personal use

Beneficiaries were required to operate vehicles as cabs.

LAHORE:

Of the 20,000 vehicles provided to unemployed youth under the Youth Self Employment Scheme in 2012, only 1,945 were registered as taxis with the Transport Department in 2014.

The remaining 18,055 vehicles are being used for purposes other than specified in the scheme, according to the department’s record.

The government had allocated Rs4.5 billion in the 2011-12 budget to give 12,000 Suzuki Mehran cars and 8,000 Suzuki Bolan vans to the unemployed youth.

Of the nearly 69,500 people who had applied for vehicles, 20,000 were selected at the end of September 2012 through a ballot conducted by the Bank of Punjab.

The Transport Department then arranged a 15-day mandatory training for drivers to issue them public service vehicle licences. Those selected for the scheme were required to pay 20 per cent of the cost of vehicles in down payment. The remaining amount was to be paid in installments over five years as an interest-free loan.

They were not allowed to change the colour and use of the vehicles. The owners were to apply for route permits for the cabs.

The department had allocated vehicles for various districts on the basis of their populations. As many as 1,627 vehicles were provided in Lahore, 540 in Sheikhupura, 565 in Kasur, 229 in Nankana Sahib, 603 in Dera Ghazi Khan, 403 in Layyah, 403 in Rajanpur, 973 in Muzaffargarh, 1,276 in Faisalabad, 428 in Jhang, 367 in Toba Tek Singh, 216 in Chiniot, 833 in Gujranwala, 441 in Gujrat, 222 in Hafizabad, 298 in Mandi Bahauddin, 272 in Narowal, 593 in Sialkot, 252 in Bhakkar, 245 in Mianwali, 204 in Khushab, 594 in Sargodha, 302 in Pakpattan, 419 in Sahiwal, 520 in Okara, 699 in Khanewal, 407 in Lodhran, 1,082 in Multan, 723 in Vehari, 873 in Bahawalpur, 694 in Bahawalnagar, 1,140 in Rahim Yar Khan, 810 in Rawalpindi, 291 in Attock, 242 in Chakwal and 212 in Jhelum.

Vehicle owners were asked to get route permits from the provincial or regional transport authorities to use them as public transport or contract carrier. Owners of the vehicles to be used as taxis were asked to obtain route permits after depositing Rs4,550 with the authorities concerned.

According to the department’s data, only 175 vehicle owners have obtained route permits in Lahore, 50 in Kasur, 18 in Sheikhupura, five in Nankana Sahib, 23 in Okara, 50 in Gujranwala, six in Narowal, four in Sialkot, 14 in Gujrat, three in Hafizabad, 22 in Mandi Bahauddin, 530 in Rawalpindi, 123 in Attock, seven in Jhelum, 16 in Chakwal, 39 in Sargodha, 11 in Mianwali, 26 in Bhakkar, 115 in Faisalabad, nine in Toba Tek Singh, 63 in Jhang, 12 in Chiniot, 75 in Multan, 19 in Pakpattan, 19 in Lodhran, 72 in Vehari, 85 in Sahiwal, 23 in Khanewal, 80 in Bahawalpur, 35 in Bahawalnagar, 63 in Rehim Yar Khan, 54 in Dera Ghazi Khan, three in Layyah, 85 in Rajanpur and 11 in Muzaffargarh.

None of 204 vehicle owners in Khushab have obtained the permit.

“As many as 18,055 beneficiaries are [apparently] not using the vehicles as cabs,” an official of the Transport Department said.

“Many of them have changed colour and modified the vehicles… removing the carriers on the roof,” said the official who did want to be named.

This year the government has launched a similar scheme to provide 50,000 vehicles at a cost of Rs31 billion.

Transport Secretary Shaukat Ali said the majority of yellow cabs were not being used for the specified purposes. “Many of the vehicles are in personal use.”

He said the department would remove the loopholes and discrepancies in the scheme. He said the recovery rate of the scheme was 98 per cent.

Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Department Muhammad Nawaz Chauhan said action would be taken against those who were using vehicles for purposes other than specified in the scheme. However, he refused to specify what action that would be.

He said the department would introduce a tracking system to avoid the ‘misuse’ of vehicles in the new scheme.

Government spokesman Zaeem Qadri could not be reached for a comment.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s Public Relations Officer Rafiullah said the transport secretary and the parliamentary secretary, not the chief minister, were the relevant people to comment on the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2015.