THIS is with reference to the report ‘ECC okays Rs6.6bn for bulletproof vehicles’ (Sept 8), according to which, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved this supplementary grant for the purchase of bulletproof vehicles for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit which is to be hosted by Pakistan in September next year.

The Cabinet Division had initially sought a grant of Rs12.6 billion for the purchase of 50 such vehicles, but, after due deli- beration, the ECC approved Rs6.6 billion for 30 vehicles instead of 50. The report did mention, however, that, if needed, an additional grant would be considered at a later stage.

The decision raises several questions. Does the government, or its affiliated departments, not already have sufficient bulletproof vehicles that could be used for the forthcoming SCO summit? Is it really necessary to acquire new bulletproof vehicles at such a hefty cost for an event that will last only a few days?

Does the decision match the current ground realities in the critical domain of the country’s economy? Besides, Pakistani missions abroad often make arrangements for our delegates when they travel overseas to attend official events.

That being so, could it not have been possible to request the relevant embassies or consulates to arrange bulletproof vehicles for their respective countries’ delegates coming to attend the SCO summit?

The federal government should not waste taxpayers’ money on one pretext or another without proper justification. Expenditure worth billions of rupees could, and should, have been avoided. The ECC without a doubt needs to revisit the decision and take a realistic approach to the matter.

Khawaja Tajammul Hussain
Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026