Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a Tamgha for Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima on March 23 in recognition of her work on the government’s petrol subsidy scheme, while other officials involved in the initiative will receive shields.
The announcement came during an afternoon tea hosted by the prime minister for ministers and government officials who helped implement the scheme. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Shehbaz described the initiative as a risky undertaking that involved significant challenges but said cooperation between the federal and provincial governments had helped it reach more than 10 million citizens.
The scheme provides a monthly subsidy of Rs. 2,000 to eligible owners of motorcycles, Qingqi motorcycles, rickshaws, and vehicles with engines of up to 800cc. The government has allocated Rs. 75 billion for the program, which the prime minister confirmed would continue.
Figures shared by Shehbaz showed that more than 10.85 million citizens had registered for the scheme, while vouchers had been issued to nearly 10.20 million people. A total of 27 million tokens had been issued, with subsidized petrol purchased against 19.4 million tokens.
Nearly 9.28 million citizens had also used the facility for a second time. The prime minister said around 96 percent of motorcycle riders had benefited from the initiative.
Shehbaz credited the federal and provincial administrations with helping expand the scheme. He said an earlier initiative in February had issued 1.3 million tokens at its peak, while the current program had reached a substantially larger number of beneficiaries.
The prime minister thanked several institutions for their role in delivering the subsidy, including the Petroleum Division, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), State Bank of Pakistan, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and telecom operators.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, and Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani were also acknowledged for their contributions.
Shehbaz separately thanked provincial chief ministers and their teams for providing administrative and financial support, saying the initiative depended on coordination between the federation and the provinces.
