The government on Tuesday auctioned 45 out of 76 vehicles of National Highway Authority (NHA) fetching around Rs 50 million, said the ministry officials. The Ministry of Communications put up the vehicles for sale as part of Prime Minister Imran Khan's austerity drive.
In the first phase held here in Islamabad, of the 276 in total, 76 vehicles of National Highway Authority (NHA) were put up for auction, where 45 vehicles were sold till filing of this report.
The vehicles auctioned on Tuesday included Parado, Vigo, Hiace, Cultus, Toyota, Suzuki Mehran, and others. In the next phase, 15 vehicles would be auctioned in Peshawar today (Wednesday), followed by nine in Abbotabad and later in Karachi and Quetta.
The NHA has initiated auction process to sell its 219 vehicles. The vehicles placed for auction include 76 at the NHA headquarters in Islamabad; 24 at regional offices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; 41 at regional offices in Punjab; 23 at regional offices in Sindh; 35 at regional offices in Balochistan; and 20 at regional offices in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Firstly, the 76 vehicles were presented for auction in Islamabad while the rest of the vehicles would be placed for auction on later dates on their respective stations.
The auction process at Islamabad commenced at 10:30am, which was attended by the State Minister for Communications Murad Saeed.
Talking to media persons, Saeed said that by following the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, money obtained from auction of vehicles will be spent on the public welfare.
In the first phase, 76 vehicles of the NHA have been put on auction. The Prime Minister has fulfilled his commitment for termination of protocol culture.
The senior officers from the Ministry of Communications and NHA were also present on the occasion.
Saeed said that pragmatic steps are underway to eliminate corruption from the country and the corrupt practices will be uprooted in the Ministry of Communications and its attached departments at every level. The individuals involved in money laundering will have to face accountability.
He further said Imran Khan is drawing attention towards solving the public issues and the plan for construction of 5,000,000 homes is a step forward towards public welfare schemes. He hoped that the duration of hard time would soon come to an end. Spending of public money on public is real democracy, he added.