GUJRANWALA, May 10: A caravan of 1,200 buses and wagons will carry activists of the ruling PML from Gujranwala. The district administration and the police have made all arrangements to facilitate participants of the rally.
A source said the regional transport authority (RTA) secretary, who was given the task to arrange the public transport, had reportedly impounded 1,000 wagons and buses from the general bus stand. Documents of these vehicles were also taken into custody.
He said members of national and provincial assemblies, nazims and naib nazims of towns and union councils and all government officials, including patwaris, were directed to arrange maximum number of people for the rally.
The source pointed out that the ruling party would distribute Rs300 in cash and lunch boxes among participants.
City circle patwaris were directed to provide from their pockets 1,600 party flags to workers. He said similar instructions were also given to patwaris of Gujranwala Saddar, Kamoki, Naushera Virkan, Wazirabad and Wahando circles. In addition, they would also provide bottles of mineral water to each participant.
He said administrations of Khiali Shahpur, Nandipur, Aroop, Qila Dedar Singh, Kamoki, Naushera Virkan and Wazirabad towns and the highway department were asked to ensure the participation of sanitary workers and other employees in the rally.
Meanwhile, the ruling party decided in a high-level meeting held here at the Circuit House that a caravan of 500 buses, led by provincial minister Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, would depart from here on Saturday.
District Coordination Officer Manzer Hayat claimed that no government official would join the rally.
DIG (operations) Khadim Hussian Bhatti said that all SHOs and other senior officers would be present on the GT Road to maintain law and order.
When contacted, the RTA secretary confirmed that about 1,000 vehicles had been hired to take PML workers to Islamabad.
Commuters, who were facing great inconvenience, strongly condemned the government for impounding of the public transport vehicles.