Austerity drive leaves NA with vehicle headache
70% of fleet grounded after rise in petroleum prices
The National Assembly Secretariat's austerity drive has left it with an unexpected problem: grounded vehicles that deteriorated while parked, with tyres and valuable equipment going missing from some of them. After a report by Express News highlighted the condition of the vehicles, the administration moved to repair them, while the secretariat decided to auction the grounded ones.
The decision to ground 70 percent of the vehicles in a bid to save the national exchequer, rather than achieving the expected savings, created the new issue of poor maintenance leading to the vehicles deteriorating while left idle. Some of the grounded vehicles were found parked on bricks and stones, and tyres and important equipment disappeared from them.
The austerity drive proved more expensive than intended due to the lack of proper maintenance for the grounded fleet. Following Express News' report on the plight of the parked vehicles, the NA Secretariat acted swiftly. They began repairing the damaged vehicles, and the missing tyres were replaced, according to the NA spokesperson.
It was clarified that the tyres were not stolen but were sent for repair. The secretariat intends to auction the grounded vehicles as part of the austerity campaign, with 20 vehicles from Parliament set to be auctioned. These vehicles, ranging from 800cc to 1,600cc, were used by chairpersons of standing committees. The NA speaker had grounded 70 percent of the vehicles due to a rise in the prices of petroleum products.
Written by urgent.news from The Express Tribune - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
