One would imagine that the British government would have a grand fleet of vehicles for its ministers which would dwarf any assets the Pakistani government possessed. The truth is actually the other way around, as a Pakistani citizen discovered to his consternation when he started investigating the comparison. His motivation was spurred in no small part by the Pakistani government’s new austerity drive necessitated by a begging bowl-shaped economy.

The government of the United Kingdom has a car service which operates 86 official vehicles in its operational fleet.

This data was obtained by Naeem Sadiq, an occupational health & safety professional, through the Right to Information Act from the UK government in January last year. He had asked about the number of official cars kept in the common pool by the UK government for its ministers and officials.

“The Government Car Service, part of the central Department for Transport, operates 86 official vehicles in its operational fleet,” says the reply he received on February 22, 2022.

He also shared the reply in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Though he had written a detailed caption with the post, Aaj Digital approached him to speak about the process behind his query and claims.

“It took 21 or 27 days to receive the response,” he told us over the phone. Sadiq has been writing articles for popular Pakistani dailies on advocacy and social issues. He claims to have been researching and conducting surveys for more than 12 years on the vehicles owned by state rulers.

How did he get the data

Sadiq explained the following process of seeking data under the RTI. UK’s ‘Freedom of Information Act 2000’ provides public access to information held by public authorities.

“It does this in two ways: public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities; and members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities.”

• Every institution has its own website so decide which department you want to research
• Research who you want to ask and from whom (for Sadiq, it took weeks to find the right department)
• Then send an email to the department concerned for the query

He was impressed by the timely response of the UK department as it had informed him that the reply would be given in less than 27 days and the deadline was met. Moreover, he said, they also asked him “if the reply was as according to his query. If not, they can again reply to him”.

The Facebook caption of Sadiq’s post said that Pakistan had 150,000 government vehicles—data that he obtained two years ago through the RTI and surveys. And while his data is two years old, one can reasonably assume that the cars are still in operation in the same numbers.

“This is the Pakistan of today. Politically and financially bankrupt, hanging by the skin of its teeth, blatantly begging the world for petty cash – but unwilling to let go of any of the luxuries of its own well-heeled, well-bribed, and well-pampered elite,” it said.

His assertion came just a day after the National Assembly was told that the incumbent government had purchased a total of eight vehicles at a cost of over Rs57.3 million.

Officials said that the Cabinet Division secretary approved the purchase of the vehicles after the approval of the Finance Division. These eight vehicles were purchased for “protocol duties”. These vehicles include a 29-seater Toyota VIP Coaster, a 14-seater Toyota High-Roof van and six 1800cc Toyota Corolla cars.

In December 2022, the AJK government confirmed a purchase of 152 vehicles for its bureaucrats and judiciary at a cost of Rs872 million. In September 2022, the Punjab government approved the purchase of 40 new vehicles at a cost of Rs300 million. In October 2022, the Lahore High Court purchased 308 new cars (costing Rs500 million), for its judicial officers.

Moreover, Sadiq claimed that the government has bought additional vehicles at a cost of Rs1.729 billion over the last six months.

This irony was also highlighted by economist Akbar Zaidi at the Karachi Literature Festival earlier this month. “In a country which is cash strapped, the Federal Board of Revenue does not buy 155 cars at the cost of more than Rs1 billion. And the police of Pakistan Air Force has bought new BMWs.”

According to Sadiq, 20 percent of all cars that visited the northern areas for tourism and holidays this season carried official green number plates. A keen observer would find the same numbers at shopping malls, parks, and restaurants, he said, adding that a small street in DHA has had “six government vehicles” parked for the last 12 years.

He suggested that Sindh should pay the complete salaries of solid waste management employees instead of importing vehicles.

“I want the government to end the use of state vehicles and even if it wants to, the vehicles should be provided to the sanitary worker, and clerk as the Grade 22 officer already gets a huge amount of remuneration,” Sadiq said.