MINISTER for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Monday said especially designed electric three-wheelers would be introduced for the women travellers in Pakistan under the e-vehicles project to make their journey safe and comfortable. A Swedish company has shown interest for establishing its unit in Pakistan for which the negotiations are underway.
There have always been hazards for women while travelling to their academic institutions, job or entrepreneur related works, as has rightly been pointed out by the Minister as well but these risks have increased with enhanced mobility and social/economic interaction. Safety concerns have been a source of mental agony that women and their families face on a daily basis. As majority of families cannot afford cars and have to rely on public transport, their woes multiply due to street crimes and frequent incidents of harassment while travelling on foot, waiting for public transport at stops and during journey. Though some seats are reserved for women in the public transport but these are not enough and, therefore, woes of women and girl students compound as they have to wait for longer period inviting risk of all sorts including those caused by weather conditions. In this backdrop, the plan for launching electric three-wheelers would help mitigate their sufferings as it could offer a way out for a safe and comfortable at reasonable investment. The proposal to have air-conditioners, Wi-Fi and GPS in those vehicles would make them all the more relevant in meeting modern day requirements and comfort. The announcement of the Minister about establishment of an electric vehicle value chain in Pakistan under the strategic alliance with Chinese companies is also a step in the right direction given rising environmental pollution. These projects would also surely increase economic activities and create employment opportunities. Hopefully, negotiations with Swedish and Chinese companies would be held on fast track for speedier implementation of these projects of far-reaching importance for people.
