Our govt sure does know what women want

Realising at last that the young women face a lot of hardships in performing their daily chores due to the absence of a reliable public transport service in the major urban areas, the government is pushing motorcycle manufactures to introduce mopeds and scooters for females.
An official source said the government’s push has yielded some positive results as a Chinese assembler has doled out 50 scooters to re-introduce their use among women. While a major Japanese assembler is planning to launch an advertisement campaign to attract women to think about having their own scooter for going to college, university or to the grocery store. Use of two wheelers among urban Pakistani women was a norm after independence but within a few years it significantly declined. Nobody is sure about the reasons but the culture of eve teasing and lax attitude of police are attributed as the major reasons for the demise of enjoyable ride for the women. The source said that were initially focused to recreate its acceptability among the women and society and once it was accomplished the law enforcement agencies will be asked to play their desired role. Initial studies carried out by a few assemblers show a sizeable demand for two wheelers among females, he said adding that the planned advertisement campaign will lead an important role in its to acceptability by the society. However, he noted that the police will have to play a vital part by keeping a strict vigil on the eve teasers. Having mopeds or scooters will take off as a craze in the urban women, as the low powered two wheelers provides economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements, he said adding that in most of the countries, the legal driving age for a moped is lower than for regular motorcycles and cars. In almost all the mega cities of the country, the standard public transport service remains dismal. The commuters face a lot of hardships while travelling within the city in highly rickety buses and vans. Women are the worst suffers as they have a few allotted seats. For a majority of urban middle class, two wheelers mainly motorcycles are their conveyance. Scooters have nearly vanished from the Pakistani market mainly due to the low petrol consuming 70cc motorcycles. The demand for two wheelers has steadily risen in Pakistan. The industry has achieved economies of scales with around 100 assemblers and over 500 vendors for two and three wheelers (rickshaws). Currently the local two and three wheelers range of products includes 70cc, 100cc, 125cc and 150cc. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Industry, the expected production of two and three wheelers will reach 1.7 million this fiscal year which is expected to rise to 3 million by fiscal year 2016-17. Motorcycle industry in Pakistan has remained heavily protected since 1964, resulting in stagnation of technology. To encourage technological up-gradation and competitiveness of the industry, the government is considering reducing tariff rates on completely knocked down (CKD) as well as for locally and non-locally made parts. Lower rate on CKD and simultaneously higher rate for completely built units (CBU) import is not only in line with the trend followed by successful regional economies, but would also attract new investments, technology transfer and providing even playing field to existing assemblers and vendors in view of MFN status to India. A higher rate for CBU import would encourage local assembly over imports, thereby attracting investments and simultaneously safeguarding foreign exchange reserves The government is also considering reducing the duty on higher range of bikes of 200 to 250 cc plus, quad bikes, all terrain vehicles (ATVs), electric motorcycles, mopeds and sports bikes which are not being manufactured in the country.