ISLAMABAD : March ,19,2023: The government has decided to give relief in petrol price by Rs 50 per litre to the motor cyclists , Rikshaw owners and the owners of cars up to 800 CC to give relief to the low income group.
The relief plan in terms of petrol price was discussed in depth in a high level meeting held here on Sunday with prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, in the chair.
Finance minister , Ishaq Dar , advisor on petroleum , Musadiq Malik and senior officials of the concerned ministries attended the meeting.
The relief to the low income group in petrol price is an old idea. The same idea was discussed in Pakistan Tehreek- e – Insaf (PTI) rule , but it remained unimplemented due to technical reasons. Now the same idea has been picked up by Shahbaz Sharif government . There is nothing new in the relief plan which was discussed in Sunday’s meeting except one i.e inclusion of small cars in the relief plan. Inclusion of cars is like opening of a dirty window to misuse the relief and divert it to selected facilitators.
In neither case, a person who owns a car of millions of rupee worth deserves cheaper petrol.
As was originally designed , the facility of cheaper petrol should have been restricted to motorbikes and Rikshaws .
The government should avoid taking any decision like inclusion of small cars as the relief will cost in billions to the tax payers.
