Every female applicant to receive e-bike under Punjab CM e-bike scheme

LAHORE: In a ground-breaking development, the Punjab government on the directives of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has announced that every female student who expresses the desire will be given an electric bike as part of the government’s initiatives geared towards empowering women.

The Punjab government has scaled its electric bike program, increasing the number of bikes for students from 20,000 to 27,200.

Read More: Eligibility criteria for CM Punjab Honhaar Scholarship Programme revealed

The initiative aims to help students especially females from the lower socio-economic class, to have access to cheaper methods of transport. Earlier, the program was launched in March when the Punjab cabinet approved the provision of 20,000 e-bikes.

However, citing high, if not overwhelming, demand, the government has revised upwards the number of bikes to 27,200 which consists of both electric and petrol bikes.

Orphaned students will be provided with the bikes at no cost while the Bank of Punjab has given loans to 20,000 male and female students for the purchase of the bikes.

To reduce the costs incurred by students, the down payment for the bikes has been reduced to Rs. 25,000, monthly installments have been fixed at less than Rs. 5.

Punjab e-bike scheme

To date, approximately 5000 petrol bikes and 2000 electric bikes have been handed out and the operation is still in progress. In addition, to guarantee the program’s accountability, every bike is provided with two years of insurance and service.

At present more than 15,000 students are on a waiting list for bikes and these will be given priority in the subsequent distributions. The government is also intending to distribute 6500 more electric bikes in some time to come.

The Chief Minister of Punjab has also encouraged electric bikes in the state, on the premise that these would also cut down on pollution levels.

The introduction of the electric bike was however confronted with battery theft and other issues such as low mileage which informed provision for petrol bikes.