Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addresses the nation on Friday. Photo: PMO
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the promotion of electric vehicles (EVs), and announced that government employees up to BPS-16 would be provided electric bikes on easy installments.
The meeting was informed that the government aimed to shift 30 per cent of vehicles to electric power within the next five years, a move expected to save approximately $4.5 billion in fuel imports.
The prime minister directed relevant authorities to accelerate ongoing initiatives aimed at promoting EV adoption across the country.
During the briefing, officials informed the prime minister that 72 manufacturing certificates have so far been issued for electric motorcycles and rickshaws, along with four certificates for electric cars. Additionally, 123 applications have been received for the installation of EV charging stations nationwide.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reaffirmed the government’s resolve to completely eradicate polio from Pakistan, noting encouraging progress as only one case has been reported so far in 2026.
Polio eradication
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed the government’s resolve to completely eradicate polio from Pakistan, noting encouraging progress as only one case has been reported so far in 2026.
Chairing a high-level review meeting on polio eradication at the Prime Minister’s House, the prime minister appreciated the tireless efforts of anti-polio teams working across the country and reiterated that eliminating the disease remains a national priority, a Prime Minister’s Office news release said.
The prime minister emphasized that sustained coordination between federal and provincial authorities, frontline workers, and partner organizations would remain essential to achieving the goal of a polio-free Pakistan.
During the briefing, the meeting was informed that only a single polio case had been reported this year from Sujawal district, compared with 74 cases in 2024 and 31 cases in 2025, reflecting a significant downward trend.
No cases have been reported so far in 2026 from Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, or Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The officials further informed the meeting that the number of polio-affected districts declined from 67 in the first quarter of 2025 to 23 in the first quarter of 2026. National household coverage during anti-polio campaigns remained consistently high at 98 percent.
The participants were told that improved access and enhanced vaccination efforts in southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had significantly reduced the number of children missing polio drops. A substantial decline in local transmission of the poliovirus was also recorded in the Quetta Block.
In Karachi, encouraging environmental surveillance results showed that poliovirus was not detected in 10 out of 12 environmental samples collected in March. Similarly, no polio case has been reported in Dera Ismail Khan district since September 2025, while the number of high-risk union councils in Bannu dropped sharply from 62 to just six.
The meeting was also informed that a strategy is being finalized to integrate the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) with the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) at federal and provincial levels. Efforts are also underway to link certain interventions of the Benazir Income Support Programme with anti-polio measures to further strengthen outreach.
