The Punjab Transport Department will provide 20,000 motorcycles to students on easy monthly installments. An agreement for this was signed recently with the Bank of Punjab; according to which, as many as 19,000 petrol bikes and 1,000 e-bikes will be provided to students free of interest in monthly installments.
The ceremony was attended by Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz herself who is keen on providing facilities such as lap tops and now these motorcycles to the youth in her province.
The provision of these bikes not only facilitates transportation for females but is also indicative of a cultural revolution in the field of female transportation as the use of cycles and motorcycles by females is not very common in the country or for that matter in the province of Punjab.
According to the scheme, there shall be 19,000 Petrol Bikes in Phase I with 11,676 Bikes for male students and 7,324 Bikes for female students. Soon the streets in Punjab will see many more female motorbike drivers than in the past.
The only hitch in the scheme seems to be an order from the Lahore High Court. Justice Shahid Karim gave a stay order against the launching of this scheme, expressing his concern over addition to air pollution, traffic congestion and misuse of these bikes including one-wheeling outside girls’ colleges to impress female students.
The court actually suggested that instead of giving away motorbikes the government should start plying new buses which will also reduce traffic congestion on roads. The ceremony for draw of the lucky winners went on as scheduled as the Punjab Government termed the stay unnecessary, arguing that the policy-making was the mandate of the executive.
The matter of distribution will eventually be sorted out but this whole exercise reflects upon the reluctance of society at large to allow women the same kind of freedoms their male counter parts have enjoyed for centuries.
In the western world cycling is the more popular form of transportation and the development of road infrastructure has influenced commuting patterns. Cycling is considered to be a predominantly male activity, especially in sports, though women’s participation in sports cycling has seen an increase in recent years. Data collected reveals significant gender gaps.
You will be surprised that according to this data, women are spending less time cycling than men in various western countries e.g. Spain (64% less), France (54% less), the United Kingdom (54% less), Germany (42% less), Japan (66% less), United States (45% less), and Brazil (37% less). These trends seem to remain the same in daily cycling.
In Karachi as in other major cities of Pakistan there are cycling clubs with many female members and they have opened new avenues for young male and female cycling enthusiasts. In Karachi, for example, Sea View is a popular spot for the meeting of such clubs who usually meet at weekends and traverse long distances. Security is of course a matter of concern for these groups and most have members whose private security guards follow them from a distance and ensure that their journeys are safe and without any misadventure.
Professional cycling is costly business, starting with the cost of a bike itself. Well it really depends on the type of bike you want if you need an ordinary bike you can get it somewhere between 50,000–75,000 Pak rupees but if you need some good sporty bike you will definitely need to spend some more like above 1000 US dollars according to prices available on the net, which of course fluctuate with the rise and fall of dollar in the country.
I learned to cycle long time ago and at that time there were no fancy bikes or clubs or professional instructors. My friends would take me to the top of Clifton bridge and after I settled down on the bike seat having said my prayers in earnest they would just give me a hard push and away I would go gaining speed as I went down the bridge and saved myself any bruises on the good days that I remembered the location of brakes and the timing to apply them all at the same time.
It was also a time when there were no free goodies from the government so you managed with old rusted bikes and no luxuries of helmets but then there was much less traffic and everyone followed the rules and that compensated for what provides safety nowadays.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
The writer is a well-known columnist
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