KARACHI, Aug 10: Federal communication minister Ahmed Ali, on Saturday gave 160 motorcycles and mobile phones to the postmen working in the Karachi circle of the Pakistan Post Office, says a press release.

It added that the motorcycles and mobile phones had been provided by the Universal Postal Union.

The chairman, PPS management board, Agha Masood Hasan, told the audience that the department had already provided 220 motorcycles to postmen in the country.

He added that during the current financial year, more than 100 more motorcycles would also be given to the postmen.

Speaking to Dawn on Sunday, the Sindh Postmaster General, Mian Mohammad Ahmed, said that the cost of the motorbikes had been 50 per cent subsidized. “The postmen will have to pay a total of Rs19,000 over a period of five years. This works out to an instalment of Rs300 per month. The postmen who have been given motorcycles will be able to cover at least 83 per cent of the entire area of the city,” he said.